High-field lasers articles from across Nature Portfolio

A new form of chirped amplification with two different nonlinear crystals can generate high-energy, single-cycle laser pulses with terawatt-level peak powers.

Researchers propose a laser pulse compression method for exawatt to zettawatt lasers based on spatially varying dispersion of an inhomogeneous plasma. This may enable, for example, pulse compression of a laser pulse from 2.35 ps to 10.3 fs. The approach is robust at high intensities.

This study discover the potential of using 3D label-free CD8 + T cell morphology as a reliable biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of sepsis, highlighting its rapid analysis and minimal blood sample requirements.

Laser machining can modify and reshape materials on the scale comparable to light’s wavelength. Here, authors use tailored microstructures to push the limit of laser machining to a scale that is almost 100 times smaller than a wavelength of light.

Gratings are used for pulse compression and stretching in chirped pulse amplification (CPA) or optical parametric CPA methods. Here the authors demonstrate ultra-broadband gold gratings that can compress single-cycle pulses with powers around 100 petawatts.

Modelling shows how plasma density gradients can be tailored to compress optical pulses in the final stages of laser systems towards exawatt (10¹⁸ W) peak powers.

A field trial in the Swiss mountains demonstrating that an intense laser beam can guide lightning discharge over tens of metres gives hope for the development of a new form of mobile lightning protection.

New methods to control how laser pulses propagate inside a plasma could signify the start of a global race to demonstrate truly high-energy compact particle accelerators.

Focusing short CO₂ laser pulses into air reveals rich ionization physics that is best explained by solid-state theories and results in centimetre-scale-diameter megafilaments that transport joules of energy.