High-energy and high-intensity lasers are essential for pushing the boundaries of science. Their development has allowed leaps forward in basic research areas, including laser–plasma interaction, high-energy density science, metrology, biology and medical technology. The Helmholtz International Beamline for Extreme Fields user consortium contributes and operates two high-peak-power optical lasers using the high energy density instrument at the European X-ray free electron laser (EuXFEL) facility. These lasers will be used to generate transient extreme states of density and temperature to be probed by the X-ray beam. This paper introduces the ReLaX laser, a short-pulse high-intensity Ti:Sa laser system, and discusses its characteristics as available for user experiments. It will also present the first experimental commissioning results validating its successful integration into the EuXFEL infrastructure and viability as a relativistic-intensity laser driver.

With the latest configuration, the Ti:Sa laser system ARCTURUS (Düsseldorf University, Germany) operates with a double-chirped pulse amplification (CPA) architecture delivering pulses with an energy of 7 J before compression in each of the two high-power beams. By the implementation of a plasma mirror system, the intrinsic laser contrast is enhanced up to $10^{-12}$ on a time scale of hundreds of picoseconds, before the main peak. The laser system has been used in various configurations for advanced experiments and different studies have been carried out employing the high-power laser beams as a single, high-intensity interaction beam ($I\approx 10^{20}~\text{W}/\text{cm}^{2}$), in dual- and multi-beam configurations or in a pump–probe arrangement.

The generation of high-order harmonics in ultraviolet spectral range by targets of periodic modulation interacting with relativistic, high contrast laser pulse (Iλ2 = 1020 W/cm2 · μm2) was investigated experimentally and numerically. The spectral intensity of the 2nd- and 3rd-order harmonic emission from grating of different periodicities (250, 410, and 480 nm) is presented. The enhancement of the 3rd harmonic order compared with 2nd was observed for a grating of 480 nm periodicity. The experimental results indicate the role of the grating periodicity on the emission efficiency of different higher order harmonics in the UV spectral range. The higher order harmonics are emitted at the grating surface separated from the specular reflection of the laser pulse, due of the interference effects. In addition, 2D numerical PIC simulations demonstrate a complex angular distribution of the higher harmonics (HH) spectral intensity and confirm the strong dependence of the HH efficiency of a specific order on the grating periodicity, as observed experimentally. These special features of the high harmonic emission by periodically modulated targets open the route toward the control of HH spectral composition and of the emission efficiency of the lower order harmonics.

The use of laser-accelerated protons as a particle probe for the detection of electric fields in plasmas has led in recent years to a wealth of novel information regarding the ultrafast plasma dynamics following high intensity laser-matter interactions. The high spatial quality and short duration of these beams have been essential to this purpose. We will discuss some of the most recent results obtained with this diagnostic at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (UK) and at LULI - Ecole Polytechnique (France), also applied to conditions of interest to conventional Inertial Confinement Fusion. In particular, the technique has been used to measure electric fields responsible for proton acceleration from solid targets irradiated with ps pulses, magnetic fields formed by ns pulse irradiation of solid targets, and electric fields associated with the ponderomotive channelling of ps laser pulses in under-dense plasmas.

The interaction of high-intensity laser pulses with matter releases instantaneously ultra-large currents of highly energetic electrons, leading to the generation of highly-transient, large-amplitude electric and magnetic fields. We report results of recent experiments in which such charge dynamics have been studied by using proton probing techniques able to provide maps of the electrostatic fields with high spatial and temporal resolution. The dynamics of ponderomotive channeling in underdense plasmas have been studied in this way, as also the processes of Debye sheath formation and MeV ion front expansion at the rear of laser-irradiated thin metallic foils. Laser-driven impulsive fields at the surface of solid targets can be applied for energy-selective ion beam focusing.

We present a novel technique for focusing and energy selection of high-current, MeV proton/ion beams. This method employs a hollow micro-cylinder that is irradiated at the outer wall by a high intensity, ultra-short laser pulse. The relativistic electrons produced are injected through the cylinder's wall, spread evenly on the inner wall surface of the cylinder, and initiate a hot plasma expansion. A transient radial electric field (107–1010 V/m) is associated with the expansion. The transient electrostatic field induces the focusing and the selection of a narrow band component out of the broadband poly-energetic energy spectrum of the protons generated from a separate laser irradiated thin foil target that are directed axially through the cylinder. The energy selection is tunable by changing the timing of the two laser pulses. Computer simulations carried out for similar parameters as used in the experiments explain the working of the micro-lens.

Due to their particular properties (low emittance, short duration, and large number density), the beams of multi-MeV protons generated during the interaction of ultraintense (I > 1019 W/cm2) short pulses with thin solid targets are suited for use as a particle probe in laser-plasma experiments. When traversing a sample, the proton density distribution is, in general, affected by collisional stopping, scattering and deflections via electromagnetic fields, and each of these effects can be used for diagnostic purposes. In particular, in the limit of very thin targets, the proton beams represent a valuable diagnostic tool for the detection of quasi-static electromagnetic fields. The proton imaging and deflectometry techniques employ these beams, in a point-projection imaging scheme, as an easily synchronizable diagnostic tool in laser- plasma interactions, with high temporal and spatial resolution. By providing diagnostic access to electro-magnetic field distributions in dense plasmas, this novel diagnostics opens up to investigation a whole new range of unexplored phenomena. Several transient processes were investigated employing this technique, via the detection of the associated electric fields. Examples provided in this paper include the detection of pressure-gradient electric field in extended plasmas, and the study of the electrostatic fields associated to the emission of MeV proton beams in high-intensity laser-foil interactions.