Note: Femtosecond laser micromachining of straight and linearly tapered capillary discharge waveguides

作者：Wiggins S M^*; Reijnders M P; Abuazoum S; Hart K; Welsh G H; Issac R C; Jones D R; Jaroszynski D A

来源：Review of Scientific Instruments, 2011, 82(9): 096104.

DOI：10.1063/1.3640410

• capillarity
• high-speed optical techniques
• laser beam machining
• micromachining
• optical waveguides
• plasma density

Gas-filled capillary discharge waveguides are important structures in laser-plasma interaction applications, such as the laser wakefield accelerator. We present the methodology for applying femtosecond laser micromachining in the production of capillary channels (typically 200-300 mu m in diameter and 30-40 mm in length), including the formalism for capillaries with a linearly tapered diameter. The latter is demonstrated to possess a smooth variation in diameter along the length of the capillary (tunable with the micromachining trajectories). This would lead to a longitudinal plasma density gradient in the waveguide that may dramatically improve the laser-plasma interaction efficiency in applications.

• 出版日期2011-9