The course is offered in a 10-CFU/ECTS version (High intensity lasers for nuclear and physical applications I+II), composed of two 5-CFU/ECTS courses (High intensity lasers for nuclear and physical applications I, High intensity lasers for nuclear and physical applications II) that are offered jointly. The present form defines aims, educational outcomes and syllabus for each part.

 HIGH INTENSITY LASERS FOR NUCLEAR AND PHYSICAL APPLICATIONS I (5 ECTS)

The objective of this course is to provide the students with the physical bases to understand the behavior and the characteristics of laser beams. In particular, it aims at giving rigorous and sound knowledge of electromagnetic waves, laser physics, properties of laser beam and of laser pulses. This knowledge is intended to give to the student the expertise and the capabilities to deal with any kind of laser and laser radiation and to address various phenomena typical of applications of laser beams.

 HIGH INTENSITY LASERS FOR NUCLEAR AND PHYSICAL APPLICATIONS II (5 ECTS)

The goal of this course is provide a sound knowledge of high intensity laser pulses properties, to the related technologies, to understand and address laser driven applications. The course first focus on the transformations that laser pulses undergo during propagation (in space, time and frequency), on the possibility to use and control these effects, in passive and active ways. Second, the course presents the up-to-date technologies for high power scaling: amplification systems (chirped pulse and optical parametric chirped pulse amplification), bulk and thin disk solid-state lasers, fiber lasers; the descriptions on physical phenomena involved and the results achieved will be illustrated. Finally, the course will discuss a few major applications of high intensity lasers: generation of XUV attosecond pulses by high order harmonic generation, laser driven particle acceleration, laser driven inertial confinement fusion.

HIGH INTENSITY LASERS FOR NUCLEAR AND PHYSICAL APPLICATIONS I

The student:

- knows the physical and mathematical methods to describe the propagation of electromagnetic waves and their interaction with matter (DD1)

- knows the physical principles of laser operation (DD1)

- is able to manage the major effects of laser beam propagation and laser-matter interaction (DD2)

- is able to face different and more complex phenomena in the field of laser applications (DD5)

HIGH INTENSITY LASERS FOR NUCLEAR AND PHYSICAL APPLICATIONS II

The student:

- knows the physics principles of laser pulses transformation in space, time and frequency, by passive and active ways (DD1)

- knows the technology related to the generation and amplification of laser pulses to high powers (DD1)

- understands the role of laser beam parameters in some important applications (DD2)

- is able to identify the laser pulse parameters that are relevant in different applications and uses (DD5)

HIGH INTENSITY LASERS FOR NUCLEAR AND PHYSICAL APPLICATIONS I

- ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES. Helmoltz’s equation, plane, spherical, standing waves; polarization, phase and group velocity, intensity; reflection and refraction, dispersion, interference, Fabry-Perot interferometer, multilayer-dielectric coatings; Huygens-Fresnel principles, Fraunhofer’s diffraction.

-  GEOMETRICAL OPTICS, DIFFRACTION OPTICS AND GAUSSIAN BEAMS. Ray propagation, aberrations and matrix formulation; the scalar wave equation, paraxial wave equation; Gaussian beams, ABCD law.

-  PASSIVE OPTICAL RESONATORS. Resonators, cavity modes, stability condition, eigenmodes; losses, photon lifetime, Q-factor.

- SEMI-CLASSICAL THEORY OF LIGHT MATTER INTERACTION, THE GAIN MEDIUM. Spontaneous emission; absorption and stimulated emission; line broadening, transition cross section, absorption and gain coefficient, saturation.

-  CONTINUOUS WAVE AND TRANSIENT LASER BEHAVIOR. Rate equations; threshold condition and output power; Q-switching, electro-optical Q-switching; mode-locking, Kerr-lens mode-locking.

- EXAMPLES OF OPERATING LASERS. Single mode selection; pumping schemes; examples of semiconductor and solid-state lasers.

 HIGH INTENSITY LASERS FOR NUCLEAR AND PHYSICAL APPLICATIONS II

- LASER BEAM TRANSFORMATIONS. Spatial transformation: M2 quality factor, self-focusing; transformation in time: dispersion, self-phase modulation, gain narrowing, dispersion compensation, compression and expansion; frequency conversion, optical parametric amplification.

- ACTIVE CONTROL OF LASER PULSES. Carrier-envelope phase stabilization of ultrashort pulses; pulse shaping, spatial light modulators, acousto-optics dispersive filters, energy contrast; wave-front control.

- HIGH INTENSITY LASER TECHNOLOGIES. Laser amplification, chirped pulse amplification, regenerative amplifier; solid state bulk lasers, thin disk lasers and amplifiers; fiber lasers and amplifiers; optical parametric chirped pulse amplification.

- XUV ATTOSECOND PULSES. High order harmonic generation and attosecond pulses; semiclassical model; tunnel ionization, strong field approximation.

- LASER DRIVEN PARTICLE ACCELERATION. Laser plasma acceleration and the ponderomotive force, principles of electron acceleration and of laser driven ion sources; characteristics of laser pulses and results.

- LASER DRIVEN INERTIAL CONFINEMENT FUSION. Principles of inertial confinement fusion; central ignition: principles and characteristic of laser indirect drive and laser direct drive schemes.

- EXAMPLES of petawatt and high intensity lasers worldwide (OPCPA systems, SGII China, ELI extreme light infrastructure Europe, National Ignition Facility USA).

Knowledge of mathematical analysis, classical mechanics and electro-magnetism in stationary conditions. Fundamentals of quantum mechanics and atomic physics are welcome.

For High intensity lasers for nuclear and physical applications II, knowledge of the topics of courses equivalent to High intensity lasers for nuclear and physical applications I or to Principles of lasers.

For both parts, the evaluation consists in an oral examination, with a discussion and problem-solving tests, on all the topics of the course. For both parts, it will assess the general knowledge, the degree of understanding of the physical phenomena and the capability to identify the relevant quantities for any phenomenon under consideration. With more detail, for part I the student will be asked to manage laser physics, laser beam propagation and laser-matter interaction; for part II, laser pulses transformations, amplification technologies and examples of applications.

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