超短激光脉冲在水中的非线性传输特性研究

基于扩展的非线性薛定谔方程及与其耦合的电子密度演化方程,理论研究了超短激光强脉冲在水中的非线性传输特性.理论模型综合考虑了衍射、正常群速度色散,多光子吸收、自聚焦及激光诱导产生的等离子体对光脉冲的自散焦效应.采用有限差分法模拟得到超短脉冲在传输过程中轴向上光功密度和等离子体密度的时空分布.系统分析了超短脉冲在水中传输的动力学过程,讨论了非线性自聚焦和等离子体自散焦效应在脉冲传输过程中的竞争关系.同时研究了不同入射激光能量,脉宽和聚焦条件对等离子体丝的时宅结构和脉冲能流横向分布的影响.该研究将有助于理解和推动超短光脉冲在激光医学、激光安全防护和水中激光加工中的应用.     

在稀薄等离子体中激光传播的相对论自聚焦

讨论超强、超短脉冲激光在稀薄等离子体中传播过程的某些性质;用二维快速傅立叶变换求解波动方程.相对论自聚焦的基本方程包括非线性源项和衍射的影响.由于有质动力和相对论的影响,使等离子体的频率降低,从而使折射指数发生改变,影响激光在等离子体中的传播.在入射激光功率(p)超过临界功率(p_c)时,激光在传播过程中产生自聚焦;反之,激光在传播过程中逐渐衰减,不产生自聚焦.     

强激光脉冲在部分离化等离子体中的传播特性

采用变分法给出了强激光脉冲在部分离化等离子体中传播的参数演化方程,其中考虑了相对论自聚焦、有质动力激发尾波场以及部分离化非线性极化强度的影响。通过非线性动力学分析的方法,得到了强激光脉冲以恒定焦斑半径传播时的激光、等离子体参数匹配条件。研究表明:在部分离化等离子体中,激光自聚焦随着电离程度的增大而增强;有质动力激发的尾波场进一步增强激光脉冲的自聚焦;相对于等离子体密度而言,激光强度对激光脉冲的自聚焦更有影响。     

Compton散射对短脉冲强激光在次临界等离子体中自聚焦的影响

应用相对论理论和多光子非线性Compton散射模型,研究了Compton散射对短脉冲强激光在次临界等离子体中自聚焦的影响,提出了将入射光和Compton散射光作为形成激光自聚焦的新机制,给出了三级电流密度满足的修正方程,并进行了数值模拟。结果表明,相对论效应使等离子体中的短脉冲强激光自聚焦趋势减缓,而散射则加速了自聚焦的发展,总自聚焦趋势比无相对论时来得快一些,主要原因是由于散射光和入射光形成的耦合光频率较入射光频率增大,散射效应补偿了因相对论效应引起的自聚焦减缓效应的缘故。     

Compton散射对短脉冲强激光在次临界等离子体中自聚焦的影响

应用相对论理论和多光子非线性Compton散射模型,研究了Compton散射对短脉冲强激光在次临界等离子体中自聚焦的影响,提出了将入射光和Compton散射光作为形成激光自聚焦的新机制,给出了三级电流密度满足的修正方程,并进行了数值模拟。结果表明,相对论效应使等离子体中的短脉冲强激光自聚焦趋势减缓,而散射则加速了自聚焦的发展,总自聚焦趋势比无相对论时来得快一些,主要原因是由于散射光和入射光形成的耦合光频率较入射光频率增大,散射效应补偿了因相对论效应引起的自聚焦减缓效应的缘故。     

超短超强激光在稀薄等离子体中的自聚焦传输

 开展超短超强激光与次稠密等离子体相互作用实验,采用探针光对激光等离子体相互作用区域进行阴影成像,研究了不同激光功率与临界功率比值及不同激光脉冲长度与等离子体波波长比值下的激光在次稠密等离子体中的自聚焦传输。结果表明:相对论效应是超短脉冲在次稠密等离子体中的主要自聚焦机制,激光功率与临界功率比值是影响超短脉冲在次稠密等离子体中形成自聚焦的关键条件。     

超强短脉冲激光在不同密度分布等离子体中的自聚焦

讨论高斯型强激光束在具有初始柱对称密度分布的低密度冷等离子体中传播时，等离子体密度分布的不同对激光自聚焦的影响.推导出可以判断更有利于自聚焦发生的评价函数，这样通过比较不同密度分布的评价函数值就可以判断哪种密度分布更有利于自聚焦的发生.为了说明这种方法的有效性，对评价函数进行分析得出：在相同的激光场中等离子体柱的轴心密度给定时(以激光的光轴为轴)，离轴越远的地方密度越大及密度变化越陡，自聚焦越容易发生；相对论效应与有质动力共同作用比相对论的单独作用，自聚焦更容易发生.数值模拟证实了评价函数能准确的预测在不 关键词： 自聚焦 相对论效应 有质动力 评价函数     

空气中激光等离子通道的演变和控制

为精确再现超强飞秒脉冲激光在大气中的传输特性,有效控制激光诱导等离子体通道的性能参数,基于扩展的非线性薛定谔方程,研究了空气中产生的等离子通道的演变过程。该模型在考虑衍射、色散和多光子效应的基础上,引入了拉曼散射、等离子体尾波场和相对论自聚焦等多种效应。讨论了电子密度和光强通量的空间分布特性,运用分步傅里叶法和有限差分法得到了电子密度和光强通量的分布,仿真结果显示,激光波长、单脉冲能量、脉宽和束腰半径等初始参数的变化将对等离子体通道的演变产生显著影响,为超短脉冲强激光在大气中成丝位置和形态控制提供了可能的途径。     

非线性介质中会聚高功率激光的焦点位置控制

为了控制激光束的传输,使激光光束能根据实际情况在特定的位置聚焦,并且保证在传输过程中光束质量不退化,根据透镜聚焦和非线性介质的自聚焦理论,研究了高功率会聚激光光束在两者共同作用下焦点位置的变化.分析了各种因素对高功率激光光束的焦点位置的影响,并通过数值求解光束在非线性Kerr介质中所遵循的非线性薛定谔方程,得到焦点的位...     

相对论电子束在动态加载等离子体中的自聚焦传输

为了进一步研究相对论电子束-离子通道辐射实验和理论的需要, 研究了相对论电子束入射中性气体以及通过碰撞电离动态加载等离子体实现对高能束流的自聚焦传输过程PIC(particle in cell) 模拟发现, 电子束电离出的离子背景能够实现对电子束的聚焦传输. 但是离子背景横向和纵向的不均匀性对束流的传输特性有显著影响. 在此基础之上, 提出了电子束在横向不均匀离子背景中传输的理论模型, 给出了束流的自聚焦条件.数值计算结果表明, 横向不均匀性会导致电子束的混合相位传输, 使得焦点附近内层电子可能跑到电子束外而被散焦损失, 这与PIC模拟的结果相符. 此外, PIC模拟还发现, 由于电子束的自聚焦, 在焦点处将电离出更多的离子而引起纵向不均匀性, 纵向不均匀性使得碰撞后的低能电子被俘获, 俘获电子效应会大幅降低电子束的传输效率. 但是俘获电子在纵向呈准周期分布, 对传输电子起到静电Wiggler场的作用, 可能实现静电Wiggler场的动态加载. 研究结果对于进一步研究电子束-等离子体系统的实验以及理论模型提出有一定的参考价值.     

Investigation of self-focusing a Gaussian laser pulse in a weakly relativistic and ponderomotive regime inside a collisionless warm quantum plasma

This article investigates nonlinear self-focusing of an intense right hand circularly polarized Gaussian profile laser pulse in a weakly relativistic and ponderomotive regime inside a collisionless and unmagnetized warm quantum plasma. The nonlinear propagation equation for laser pulse in plasma has been derived. Then, the evolution differential equation for laser spot-size was obtained with considering the parabolic equation approach under the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin and paraxial ray approximations. This differential equation was solved numerically by fourth-order Runge-Kutta method. It is shown that our solution confirms the results of the self-focusing of the laser pulse in a weakly relativistic ponderomotive regime in cold quantum plasma in extreme conditions. Numerical results indicate that self-focusing of the laser pulse in the presence of relativistic and ponderomotive nonlinearity inside warm quantum plasma is improved in comparison with relativistic and ponderomotive cold quantum plasma.     

Self-Focusing/Defocusing of Chirped Gaussian Laser Beam in Collisional Plasma with Linear Absorption

This paper presents an investigation on the self-focusing/defocusing of chirped Gaussian laser beam in collisional plasma with linear absorption. We have derived the differential equation for the beam width parameter by using WKB and paraxial approximations and solved it numerically. The effect of chirp and other laser plasma parameters is seen on the behavior of beam width parameter with dimensionless distance of propagation. The results are discussed and presented graphically. Our simulation results show that the amplitude of oscillations decreases with the distance of propagation. Due to collisional frequency, the laser beam shows fast divergence which can be minimized by the introduction of chirp parameter. The chirp decreases the effect of defocusing and increases the ability of self-focusing of laser beam in collisional plasma.     

Effects of relativistic and ponderomotive nonlinearities on the interaction of high-power laser beam with an inhomogeneous warm plasma

The influence of relativistic-ponderomotive nonlinearities and the plasma inhomogeneity on the nonlinear interaction between a high-power laser beam and a warm underdense plasma are studied. It is clear that the relativistic ponderomotive force and the electron temperature modify the electron density distribution and consequently change the dielectric permittivity of the plasma. Therefore, by presenting the modified electron density and the nonlinear dielectric permittivity of the warm plasma, the electromagnetic wave equation for the propagation of intense laser beam through the plasma is derived. This nonlinear equation is numerically solved and the distributions of electromagnetic fields in the plasma, the variations of electron density, and plasma refractive index are investigated for two different background electron density profiles. The results show that the amplitude of the electric field and electron density oscillations gradually increase and decrease, during propagation in the inhomogeneous warm plasma with linear and exponential density profiles, respectively, and the distribution of electron density becomes extremely sharp in the presence of intense laser beam. It is also indicated that the electron temperature and initial electron density have an impact on the propagation of the laser beam in the plasma and change the plasma refractive index and the oscillations' amplitude and frequency. The obtained results indicate the importance of a proper choice of laser and plasma parameters on the electromagnetic field distributions, density steepening, and plasma refractive index variations in the interaction of an intense laser beam with an inhomogeneous warm plasma.     

Nonlinear propagation of an intense Laguerre–Gaussian laser pulse in a plasma channel

The nonlinear propagation of an intense Laguerre–Gaussian(LG) laser pulse in a parabolic preformed plasma channel is analyzed by means of the variational method. The evolution equation of the spot size is derived including the effects of relativistic self-focusing, preformed channel focusing, and ponderomotive self-channeling. The parametric conditions of the LG laser pulse and plasma channel for propagating with constant spot size, periodically focusing and defocusing oscillation,catastrophic focusing, and solitary waves are obtained. Compared with the laser pulse with fundamental Gaussian(FG)mode, it is found that the effect of vacuum diffraction is reduced by half and the effects of relativistic and wakefield focusing are decreased by a quarter due to the hollow transverse intensity profile of the LG laser pulse, while the effect of channel focusing is the same order of magnitude with that of the FG laser pulse. Thus, the matched condition for the intense LG laser pulse with constant spot size is released obviously, while the parameters of the laser and plasma for the existence of solitary waves nearly coincide with those of the FG laser pulse.     

Light propagation in media with a highly nonlinear response: An analytical study

The problem of light propagation in highly nonlinear media is studied with the help of a recently introduced systematic approach to the analytical solution of equations of nonlinear optics [L.L. Tatarinova, M.E. Garcia, Exact solutions of the eikonal equations describing self-focusing in highly nonlinear geometrical optics, Phys. Rev. A 78 (2008) 021806(R)(1—4)]. Numerous particular cases of media exhibiting high-order nonlinear refractive indices are considered. We obtain analytical expressions for determining the self-focusing position and a new exact expression for calculating the filament intensity. The constructed solutions allowed us to revise a so-called self-focusing scaling law, i.e., the functional dependence of the self-focusing position on the initial light peak intensity. It was demonstrated that this dependence is governed by the form of the nonlinear refractive index and not by the laser beam shape at the boundary.     

Effect of Critical Beam Radius on Self-focusing of cosh-Gaussian Laser Beams in Collisionless Magnetized Plasma

Effect of critical beam radius on self-focusing of cosh-Gaussian laser beams in collisionless magnetized plasma under ponderomotive nonlinearity forms the main core of present work. To investigate propagation dynamics of cosh-Gaussian laser beams in collisionless magnetized plasma, well established parabolic equation approach under WKB and paraxial approximations is employed. Our study is crucially pivoted on the concept of critical curve and subsequent determination of numerical interval for decentered parameter to sustain the competition between diffraction and self-focusing during the propagation of laser beam. Additionally, in the present study an interesting feature in the self-focusing region of the critical curve has been attempted for different values of decentered parameter.     

Interaction of ultraintense laser pulses with an underdense,preformed plasma channel

We report on experimental results regarding the propagation of ultraintense laser pulses in a preformed plasma channel. In this experiment, the long (4-mm) fully ionized plasma channel created by the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) was measured by interferometry before and after the propagation of the short laser pulse. Forward spectra show a cascade of Raman satellites, which merge with one another when the laser power was increased up to critical power for relativistic self-focusing P_c. The number of filaments measured by interferometry increases when the laser power increases. High conversion efficiency (≈10%) of second harmonic generation was observed in the interaction     

Effect of Critical Beam Radius on Self-focusing of cosh-Gaussian Laser Beams in Collisionless Magnetized Plasma

Effect of critical beam radius on self-focusing of cosh-Gaussian laser beams in collisionless magnetized plasma under ponderomotive nonlinearity forms the main core of present work. To investigate propagation dynamics of cosh-Gaussian laser beams in collisionless magnetized plasma, well established parabolic equation approach under WKB and paraxial approximations is employed. Our study is crucially pivoted on the concept of critical curve and subsequent determination of numerical interval for decentered parameter to sustain the competition between diffraction and self-focusing during the propagation of laser beam. Additionally, in the present study an interesting feature in the self-focusing region of the critical curve has been attempted for different values of decentered parameter.     

Intense laser beam propagating in a plasma channel with flat-bottom leaky density profile

The propagation characteristics of an intense laser beam in a preformed plasma channel with the flat-bottom leaky density profile are investigated in detail. The evolution equation of the laser spot size is derived by employing variational technique. Seven propagation modes of the laser spot size are identified and some numerical results are presented. By comparison, we find that the results in this Letter may be more realistic since the flat-bottom leaky plasma channel comes closer to the practical plasma channel.