A Multi-Terawatt Two-Color Beam For High-Power Field-Controlled Nonlinear Optics

Two-color laser beams are instrumental in light-field control and enhancement of high-order harmonic, spectral supercontinuum, and terahertz radiation generated in gases, plasmas, and solids. We demonstrate a multi-terawatt two-color beam produced using a relativistic plasma mirror, with 110 mJ at 800 nm and 30 mJ at 400 nm. Both color components have high spatial quality and can be simultaneously focused, provided that the plasma mirror lies within a Rayleigh range of the driving fundamental beam. Favorable scaling of second-harmonic generation by plasma mirrors at relativistic intensities suggests them as an excellent tool for multi-color waveform synthesis beyond the petawatt level. (C) 2020 Optical Society of America