Tag Archives: optics

High-intensity laser pulse simulation

As an undergraduate, I worked for two years in a high-intensity optics group.  We were studying high-harmonic generation by femtosecond laser pulses passing through a dilute inert gas.  These pulses have energies of millijoules and peak intensities of 1015 watts/cm2 (a comparable intensity could be achieved by focusing all of the sunlight hitting … Continue … Continue reading High-intensity laser pulse simulation

A device to measure picoradians

The science data for our torsion-balance experiments is collected by measuring the rotation of the pendulum using laser autocollimators. In these autocollimators, light from a laser diode is collimated by a lens, reflected off a mirror on the pendulum, refocused by the original collimating lens, and directed onto a position-sensitive photodetector by a … Continue … Continue reading A device to measure picoradians