Laser/Matter interaction in super-strong fields

We use ultrashort femtosecond laser beam with very high peak intensity to create micro-expostions in solid materials.

The quest for recreating the high pressure and high temperature in laboratory experiments, which regulate the processes inside the stars and planets is a driving force for our studies of Warm Dense Matter (WDM), a non-equilibrium state of matter between solid and plasma: it has high, solid-state density, and low plasma temperature of 1 eV – 10 eV. The extreme conditions produced with high-power ultrafast laser can serve as a novel microscopic laboratory for high pressure and temperature studies and materials processing, well beyond the pressure levels achieved in diamond anvil cell.

In our research we combine fundamental knowledge of the laser-matter interaction with the development of innovative ultrafast laser techniques. This unique skillset has enabled us to achieve several key milestones in the field of phase transformation under extreme temperature and pressure, for example:

The discovery of a new stable super-dense phase of body-centered-cubic aluminium

The discovery of two new metastable tetragonal phases of silicon

Theoretical prediction of four new allotropes of silicon

Determination of the Raman signature of new silicon phases

Experimental evidence of the 9R polytype of silicon

Understanding of laser-matter interaction at relativistic intensity

These recent breakthroughs have allowed us to build exciting collaborations with high level universities around the world.

Our research program is divided into two streams:

Material phase transformation by laser-induced confined microexplosion

Discovery of a new stable super-dense phase of body-centered-cubic aluminium
Application of the microexplosion technique to the domain of non-transparent material
Discovery of two novel silicon phases
High-aspect ratio micro-Bessel beams to enhance the ultrafast laser microexplosion conditions
Development of pump-probe technique for observing in situ the process of the microexplosion in real time with fs-temporal resolution

find out more »

Phase transformation by high-power ultrashort laser pulse at relativistic intensity

Irradiation at relativistic laser intensity
Volume synthesis of exotic polymorphs
Acceleration of the electrons by light pressure

Contacts