Controlling the temporal contrast and eliminating unwanted pre-pulses and pulse pedestals are crucial in high-energy-density science (HEDS) experiments, particularly those aimed at efficiently accelerating protons with lasers at ultra-high intensities. In these experiments, the proton-generating target can be significantly degraded by the laser signal that occurs before the main pulse, which can negatively affect the properties of the proton beam.

New research has, for the first time, demonstrated effective temporal contrast cleaning at high laser energy throughput using thin liquid crystal films at petawatt-class laser powers. The work involved researchers from the Berkeley Lab Laser Accelerator (BELLA) Center and Ohio State University.

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A renewable double plasma mirror for Petawatt-class lasers
July 1, 2025 / Nature Scientific Reports
Authors: Nick Czapla, Derek M. Nasir, Lieselotte Obst-Huebl, Anthony Zingale, Jianhui Bin, Anthony J. Gonsalves, Sven Steinke, Kei Nakamura, Carl B. Schroeder, Eric Esarey, Cameron G. R. Geddes, and Douglass W. Schumacher