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High-power laser beam shaping using a metasurface for shock excitation and focusing at the microscale

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Version 3 2023-07-19, 16:00
Version 2 2023-01-19, 17:00
Version 1 2023-01-10, 03:00
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posted on 2023-07-19, 16:00 authored by Yun Kai, Jet Lem, Marcus Ossiander, Maryna L. Meretska, Vyacheslav Sokurenko, Steven E. Kooi, Federico Capasso, Keith A. Nelson, Thomas Pezeril
Achieving high repeatability and efficiency in laser-induced strong shock wave excitation remains a significant technical challenge, as evidenced by the extensive efforts undertaken at large-scale national laboratories to optimize the compression of light element pellets. In this study, we propose and model a novel optical design for generating strong shocks at a tabletop scale. Our approach leverages the spatial and temporal shaping of multiple laser pulses to form concentric laser rings on condensed matter samples. Each laser ring initiates a two-dimensional focusing shock wave that overlaps and converges with preceding shock waves at a central point within the ring. We present preliminary experimental results for a single ring configuration. To enable high-power laser focusing at the micron scale, we demonstrate experimentally the feasibility of employing dielectric metasurfaces with exceptional damage threshold, experimentally determined to be 1.1 J/cm2, as replacements for conventional optics. These metasurfaces enable the creation of pristine, high-fluence laser rings essential for launching stable shock waves in materials. Herein, we showcase results obtained using a water sample, achieving shock pressures in the gigapascal (GPa) range. Our findings provide a promising pathway towards the application of laser-induced strong shock compression in condensed matter at the microscale.

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