Journal article
Efficiency-optimized relativistic plasma harmonics for extreme fields
- Abstract:
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Bright harmonic radiation from relativistically oscillating laser plasmas offers a direct route for generating extreme electromagnetic fields. Theory predicts that under optimized conditions, the plasma medium can support strong spatiotemporal compression of laser energy in a coherent harmonic focus (CHF), delivering intensity boosts many orders of magnitude greater than the incident driving laser pulse1,2,3,4. Although diffraction-limited performance5 (spatial compression) and attosecond phase locking6,7,8 (temporal compression) have been demonstrated experimentally, efficient coupling of relativistically intense laser pulse energy into the emitted harmonic cone has not been realized so far. Here we demonstrate that this highly nonlinear interaction can be tailored to deliver the maximum conversion efficiencies predicted from simulations. By fine-tuning the temporal profile of the driving laser on sub-picosecond (<10−12 s) timescales, energies >9 mJ between the 12th and 47th harmonics are observed. These results are in agreement with the theoretically expected efficiency dependence on harmonic order, verifying that optimal conditions have been achieved in the generation process. This is the important final element required to achieve the expected intensity boosts from a CHF in experiments. Although obtaining spatiotemporal compression and optimal efficiency simultaneously remains challenging, the path to realizing extreme optical field strengths approaching the critical field of quantum electrodynamics (the Schwinger limit at >1016 V cm−1 or >1029 W cm−2) is now open, permitting all-optical studies of the quantum vacuum and new frontiers for intense attosecond science.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 4.2MB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1038/s41586-026-10400-2
Authors
- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/057g20z61
- Grant:
- ST/X005518/1
- ST/V001655/1
- Publisher:
- Springer Nature
- Journal:
- Nature More from this journal
- Volume:
- 652
- Issue:
- 8112
- Pages:
- 1153-1158
- Publication date:
- 2026-04-22
- Acceptance date:
- 2026-03-11
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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1476-4687
- ISSN:
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0028-0836
- Language:
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English
- Keywords:
- Pubs id:
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2404823
- Local pid:
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pubs:2404823
- Deposit date:
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2026-04-15
- ARK identifier:
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Timmis et al.
- Copyright date:
- 2026
- Rights statement:
- Copyright © 2026, The Author(s). This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
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