Self-Compression of Multi-Millijoule Short Pulse Lasers in Plasma*

Compressor after compression schemes enable laser pulses to both decrease in duration and increase in intensity through spectral broadening, with applications in laser ion acceleration and laser wakefield acceleration3. Using a thin plasma as the broadening medium, we demonstrate pulse compression of a high repetition rate, multi-millijoule laser system. We show that the compressed pulse maintains the focusability of the original pulse with minimal energy losses. PIC simulations show the impact of the density profile and numerical aperture on the spectral broadening.