Prof John W.G. Tisch

• High-Intensity, Femtosecond Lasers: Design and development of femtosecond chirped pulse amplification systems. Adaptive pulse-shaping techniques. Optical parametric chirped pulse amplification for sub-10 fs pulse production.
• Nonlinear Optics and Ultrafast Pulse Characterisation:  Nonlinear frequency conversion and parametric amplification of femtosecond laser pulses. Raman side-band generation. FROG and SPIDER chararcterisation of sub-10 fs pulses.
• Laser-Cluster Interactions: High energy-density plasma formation from the high-intensity irradiation of atomic clusters. Characterisation and development of these plasmas for thermonuclear fusion research and as pulsed sources of neutrons, strong incoherent x-rays, super energetic electrons and high charge state ions. Numerical modelling of laser-cluster interactions.
• High Harmonic Generation (HHG): Characterisation, optimisation and control of short-pulse, coherent soft x-ray production through HHG in atoms, molecules and van der Waals clusters. HHG phase-matching theory.
• Few-cycle Light Pulses and Attosecond Science: Few-cycle pulse generation using gas-filled hollow-fibre techniques. Modelling of few-cycle pulse generation and pulse propagation. Carrier-envelope phase (CEP) measurement, stabilisation and control techniques. HHG in few-cycle limit. Attosecond soft x-ray pulse measurement schemes. Attosecond pump-probe techniques in atoms, molecules, surfaces, and nano-structures. Control of energetic electron-ion recollisions using CEP stabilised and shaped femtosecond pulses. The use of electron recollisions to control and measure dynamical processes in atoms and molecules on the attosecond time-scale and Ångstrom length-scale.

(CI = Co-Investigator, PI = Principal Investigator)

Current

EPSRC Ep/F034601/1 "Next Generation Attosecond Technology " (PI) £1.2M

EPSRC EP/E028063/1 "Control of Electrons by Few-Cycle Intense Laser Pulses" (CI)  £2.5MCCLRC "Sub 10-Femtosecond XUV Source for Astra TA1" (CI) £1.6M

EPSRC EP/C530764/1 "Dynamic Imaging Of Matter At The Attosecond and Angstrom Scales" (CI)  £514k

RCUK GR/S22400/01 "Basic Technologies: Attosecond Technology - Light Sources, Metrology and Applications" (PI) £1M

Previous
EPSRC GR/R82203/01 "Modulation of Femtosecond Laser Pulses by Molecular Coherence" (CI) £130k
EPSRC GR/N11292/01 "The interaction of atoms, molecules and clusters with tailored high intensity pulses" (CI) £1.4M