Lund High-Power Laser Facility
The Lund high-power laser facility, founded in 1992, is one of the leading facilities in Europe for high-intensity laser-matter interactions, attosecond science and short-wavelength laser spectroscopy. Being a spearhead of the Lund Laser Centre, which is a European Major Research Infrastructure, this Facility is open not only to Swedish scientists, but also to scientists from the rest of Europe.
The lasers of the High-Power Laser Facility are:
| Laser Name | Repetition Rate | Pulse Energy | Center Wavelength | Pulse Duration | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terawatt Laser | 100 Hz and 10 Hz | up to 50 mJ (100 Hz) and up to 250 mJ (10 Hz) | 850 nm | < 10 fs | Laser system used for relativistic intensity experiments and particle acceleration as well as short x-ray pulses. A lower energy arm (around 50 mJ) is used for the generation of intense attosecond pulse trains in the extreme-ultraviolet spectral range via high-order harmonic generation for attosecond pump-probe experiments in atomic and molecular systems. The laser system is based on OPCPA technology. |
| kHz Tunable Laser | 3 kHz | 5 mJ | 770-830 nm | 20 fs (CEP-stable) | The "work horse" for attosecond pump-probe spectroscopy within the last 15 years. The center wavelength is tunable between 770 and 830 nm. The system is also equipped with an OPA to obtain an even larger range of wavelengths. The main scientific activity is towards attosecond pump-probe experiments based on Photoelectron spectroscopy and transient absorption spectroscopy. |
| OPCPA | 200 kHz | 15 μJ | 850 nm | 6 fs (CEP-stable) | A high-repetition rate, few-cycle, CEP-stable Optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA) laser. The laser is used to generate short attosecond pulse trains for pump-probe experiments in the gas phase based on a homemade 3D photoelectron/ion coincidence spectrometer and on surfaces and nanostructures based on photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM). |
| OPCPA | 200 kHz | 250 µJ (planned) | 2 µm | <20 fs (CEP-stable) | A high-repetition rate, few-cycle, CEP-stable Optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA) laser. The laser is used to generate short attosecond pulse trains for pump-probe experiments in the soft x-ray regime to investigate samples and processes in the so-called "water window". |
| Ytterbium CPA | 1-200 kHz | 700 µJ at 10 kHz | 1030 nm | 180 fs | The laser is widely tunable in repetition rate (1-200 kHz). An OPA can extend the wavelength range to the near-IR spectral range. |
| Ytterbium CPA | 1-2 MHz | 2 mJ at 40 kHz | 1030 nm, and harmonics | 220 fs, tunable, CEP-ready | This laser is widely tunable in repetition rate, with up to 80 W average power. Pulse post-compression is available to tune the pulse duration down to the few-cycle regime. Second and third harmonic of the fundamental frequency are also available for this laser. The amplifier is CEP-ready but not CEP-stable (planned). This laser is used to study the process of high harmonic generation depending on different laser characteristics. It is combined with a flexible HHG beamline. |
One laser is based upon chirped pulse amplification in Ti:Sapphire and two in Ytterbium gain material. Three lasers are based upon a different concept: OPCPA. It combines optical parametric amplification in a crystal and chirped pulse amplification where an optical pulse is stretched in time, amplified and then compressed again. These lasers have the nominal wavelength of 800 nm or 2 µm but vastly different pulse energy and repetition rate.
The Lund high-power laser facility has been funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and by Lund University