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.     

Investigation of 1.06 μm laser induced plasma in air using optical interferometry

The laser produced plasma in air by Q-switch Nd:YAG pulses with 50 mJ and 7 ns was analyzed using Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The interferograms were taken at various delay times after single pulses induced gas breakdown. The 3D electron density distribution at early times of the plasma is investigated. To determine the 3D electron density distribution of the plasma, the FFT analysis is applied to extract the phase of the reconstructed interferograms and the numerical inverse Abel transformation is used to calculate the refractive index. The results provide an understanding of the electron density temporal and spatial evolution of laser induced plasma in air from 18 ns and up to 100 ns of plasma lifetime.     

用于高温等离子体电子密度测量的摩尔偏折仪

 摩尔偏折测量术通过测量探针光束经过不均匀介质后光线的偏折来估算介质的折射率。基于这一理论,研制了实用的摩尔偏折仪,利用软X射线激光作为探针来探测高温高密等离子体的电子密度,结合软X射线激光实验做了初步的演示。     

用脉冲激光全息干涉术测量稠密等离子体电子密度分布

利用脉冲激光作为探测光源,采用全息双曝光法对激光惯性约束核聚变高温高稠度等离子体的诊断,开发了原理上全新的诊断方法.打靶主激光与探测激光实现严格同步Δt≤10^-11～10^-10s,可获得高空间分辨率Δδ≤1μm等离子体二维图象(阴影图象和干涉图象),并保证时间分辨率Δt达到10^-11s左右.记录等离子体折射率空间分布是测定密度剖面变化和计算等离子体流体动力学参量的基础.     

Shadowgraphy and interferometry using a CW laser and a CCD of alaser-induced plasma in atmospheric air

We present a new application of a charged coupled device (CCD), where a continuous-wave (CW) laser is used as a probe beam in shadowgraphy and interferometric diagnosis of transparent media where the refractive index varies in time. The time resolution is obtained by gating the CCD. This configuration has the advantage that the temporal resolution of both techniques can be changed according to the evolution of the process under study and no stability setup is required, as usual, in CW interferometric techniques. We applied this method to the diagnosis of a laser induced plasma (LIP) in air measuring the evolution of plasma, shock wave, electron density, and hot core air expansion from the ns to the ms time scale     

3D reconstruction of the complex dielectric function of glass during femtosecond laser micro-fabrication

We report on a new technique to reconstruct the 3D dielectric function change in transparent dielectric materials and the application of the technique for on-line monitoring of refractive index modification in BK7 glass during direct femtosecond laser microfabrication. The complex optical field scattered from the modified region is measured using two-beam, single-shot interferogram and the distribution of the modified refractive index is reconstructed by numerically solving the inverse scattering problem in Born approximation. The optical configuration suggested is further development of digital holographic microscopy. It takes advantage of high spatial resolution and almost the same optical paths for both interfering beams, and allows ultrafast time resolution.     

飞秒激光烧蚀铝靶产生喷射物的超快脉冲数字全息诊断

采用脉冲数字显微全息技术,对50 fs单脉冲激光烧蚀铝靶过程中的物质喷射以及等离子体演化的动态过程进行了实验研究,获得了高时空分辨的动态数字全息图.由全息图观察到了热弹力波引起的二次喷射现象,并且报道了大延迟下喷射物质对400 nm探测光所引起的干涉条纹的反常移动现象.通过对全息图进行数字再现,得到了不同延迟下探测光穿过等离子体后的二维相位分布,并运用逆Abel变换算法获得了等离子体折射率以及等效电子密度的时空演化动态过程.根据实验以及计算所得到的有关于喷射物的光学性质,对喷射物的结构和成分进行了分析. 关键词： 脉冲数字全息 飞秒激光烧蚀 超快时间分辨 等离子体     

Spatial-temporal measurements of magnetic fields in laser-produced plasmas

The results of an investigation of the electromagnetic wave polarization, probing high-temperature laser plasma, as well as spatial-temporal structure of the magnetic fields, electron density, current density, and electron drift velocity are presented. To create the plasma, plane massive Al targets were irradiated with the second harmonic of a phoenix Nd laser at intensities up to 5·10¹⁴ W/cm². It was shown that the magnetooptical Faraday effect is the main mechanism responsible for the changing polarization of the probing wave. Magnetic fields up to 0.4 MG with electron densities ∼10²⁰ cm⁻³ were measured. Analysis of the magnetic field spatial distribution showed that the current density achieved the value ∼90 MA/cm² on the laser axis. The radial structure of the magnetic field testified to the availability of the reversed current in the laser plasma. The spatial and temporal resolutions in these experiments were equaled to ∼5 μsec and ∼50 psec, respectively. Translated from Preprint No. 35 of the Lebedev Physics Institute, Moscow, 1993.     

Numerical modeling of transient progression of plasma formation in biological tissues induced by short laser pulses

A theoretical model based on the rate equation for free electron density is proposed to investigate transient progression of plasma formation in soft biological tissues during laser shock processing. The laser focusing region around the focus point is considered to be one-dimensional along the direction of the incident beam, and is discretized into numerous thin control volumes. In simulation of the transient plasma progression, the laser intensity distribution and the temporal evolution of the free electron density are calculated sequentially for each control volume using a fourth-order Runge–Kutta method with adaptive time step control. The rate-equation formalism is first validated with previously published theoretical and experimental results. Simulation of the dynamics of plasma formation is then performed. The results include temporal evolution and spatial distribution of the free electron density as well as the growth of the plasma. It is shown that the threshold laser intensity for optical breakdown in water and the maximum length of the resulting plasma obtained from the present model are in good agreement with existing experimental data. PACS 42.65.-k; 52.38.-r; 87.80.-y     

Some problems of application of submillimeter laser imaging interferometry for strongly refracting plasma objects

The present paper examines in detail some issues related to the application of submillimeter laser imaging interferometry for measuring electron density radial profiles in small, strongly refracting, plasma objects. Described is an analysis of the optical scheme of an interferometer based on the concepts of geometrical and wave optics. Also given are the results of computerized calculations and optimization of one of the variants of the scheme aimed at obtaining the maximum spatial resolution up to the wavelength under phase distortion of less than 0.1 of the interference order. Besides, the paper discusses the effect of probing radiation deviation at the refractive index gradients of phase-inhomogeneous objects as well as the effect of its possible ellipticity on the interferometric data. The experimental results obtained with various model objects including arcs with low electron density, which burn in conducting flows of combustion products are presented.     

非对称磁镜场电子回旋共振氧等离子体刻蚀化学气相沉积金刚石膜

分别应用郎缪尔双探针和离子灵敏探针对非对称磁镜场电子回旋共振氧等离子体的电子参数、空间分布和离子参数进行了测量,分析了气压对等离子体参数及空间分布的影响。利用该等离子体在优化的气压条件下对化学气相沉积金刚石膜进行了刻蚀,并研究了刻蚀机理。结果表明:电子温度为5~10 eV,离子温度为1 eV左右,而等离子体数密度在1010cm-3数量级。随气压的升高,电子和离子温度降低,而电子数密度先增大后减小。在低气压下等离子体数密度空间分布更均匀,优化的刻蚀气压为0.1 Pa。刻蚀过程中,离子的回旋运动特性得到了加强,有利于平行于金刚石膜表面的刻蚀,有效地保护了金刚石膜的晶界和缺陷。     

First-principles electron dynamics control simulation of diamond under femtosecond laser pulse train irradiation

A real-time and real-space time-dependent density functional is applied to simulate the nonlinear electron-photon interactions during shaped femtosecond laser pulse train ablation of diamond. Effects of the key pulse train parameters such as the pulse separation, spatial/temporal pulse energy distribution and pulse number per train on the electron excitation and energy absorption are discussed. The calculations show that photon-electron interactions and transient localized electron dynamics can be controlled including photon absorption, electron excitation, electron density, and free electron distribution by the ultrafast laser pulse train.     

激光诱导等离子体LTE态判定方法研究

针对目前等离子体温度测量中常用的Boltzmann平面法和双线法的测量精度较差的问题,提出结合Boltzmann-Maxwell分布和Saha-Eggert公式来提高等离子温度的测量精度;根据高斯公式的面积与峰值关系建立了发射谱线线宽的简便算法,并通过谱线的Stark展宽计算等离子体的电子密度;建立了以McWhirter准则的等离子局部热平衡(LTE)态判据。以铝为被测样品的实验结果表明,随着激光能量的增加,等离子体温度和电子密度随之呈线性上升趋势;激光能量在127～510 mJ范围内的等离子体电子密度变化范围为1.305 32×1017～1.873 22×1017 cm-3,等离子体温度的变化范围为12 586～12 957 K,根据McWhirter准则本实验中所有等离子体均满足LTE态阈值条件;针对在光谱仪波段内可观测到的处于同一电离态谱线相对较少的铝元素,在不适合用Boltzmann平面法计算温度时,利用Saha-Boltzmann方法对100组铝等离子体光谱进行温度测量的相对标准偏差(RSD)为0.4%,相比于双线法的1.3%,大幅提高了测量精度。该计算方法可用于快速计算等离子体温度、电子密度及判断等离子体LTE态,在自由定标、光谱有效性分析、谱线的温度校正、确定最佳采光位置以及等离子体LTE分布状态等研究中都有较高的应用价值。     

HL-2A装置Nd:YAG激光汤姆逊散射多道测量系统

 利用Nd:YAG激光汤姆逊散射多道测量系统对等离子体多空间点的电子温度和密度进行了测量。用标准光源和电扫描单色仪构成的标定系统对散射光谱的响应系数进行了标定。给出了等离子体中心附近6空间点的温度和密度的测量结果,时间分辨率为100 ms,空间分辨率约为2.2 cm。对实验结果的不确定度进行了估计,为-12% ~ 12%。实验结果证明：系统可测量等离子体温度的空间范围为-35 ~ -3 cm,实验数据稳定可靠。     

Generation of a Plasma Waveguide with Slow-Wave Structure

Using the particle-in-cell simulations,we report an efficient scheme to generate a slow wave structure in the electron density of a plasma waveguide,based on the array laser-plasma interaction.The spatial distribution of the electron density of the plasma waveguide is modulated via effective control of the super-Gaussian index and array pattern code of the lasers.A complete overview of the holding time,and the bearable laser's intensity of the electron density structure of the plasma waveguide,is obtained.In addition,the holding time of the slow wave structure of the plasma waveguide is also controlled by adjusting the frequency of the array laser beam.Finally,effects due to ion motion are discussed in detail.     

Investigation of first and second ionization on optical properties of atmospheric plasmas

In this paper, the relation between refractive index and other atmospheric plasma properties including electron, ion and molecule number densities and temperature are calculated. Considering the first and second ionization and the atmospheric air composition, the temperature dependence of the atmospheric plasma on refractive index is obtained by Saha equation. Also, in contrast to conventional models for evaluating electron number density by optical techniques, in which the refractive index of plasmas is approximately assumed equal to electron refractive index, this work is proposed for accurate and absolute measurement of electron density profile and determination of plasma region.     

Cell refractive index tomography by digital holographic microscopy

For what we believe to be the first time, digital holographic microscopy is applied to perform optical diffraction tomography of a pollen grain. Transmission phase images with nanometric axial accuracy are numerically reconstructed from holograms acquired for different orientations of the rotating sample; then the three-dimensional refractive index spatial distribution is computed by inverse radon transform. A precision of 0.01 for the refractive index estimation and a spatial resolution in the micrometer range are demonstrated.     

Optical extinction spectroscopy of single silver nanoparticles

The extinction spectrum of single silver nanoparticles with size ranging from 20 to 80 nm is investigated with the spatial modulation spectroscopy technique using either a tunable laser or a white lamp as the broadband source. Results are in good agreement with the prediction of the Mie theory, permitting to extract the nanoparticle size from the measured absolute value of the optical extinction cross-section. In contrast, the deduced refractive index of the nanoparticle environment and the reduction of the electron mean free path show a large dependence on the precise value of the bulk silver dielectric function.     

Measurement of gas temperature in a CO2-N2-He TEA amplifier using laser interferometry

Using a laser interferometric technique changes in the refractive index at 633 nm of the pulsed discharge of a TEA CO₂-N₂-He laser amplifier have been observed. Heating of the medium by the discharge reduces the density and hence the refractive index of the gas. The peak temperature was found to be reached between 0.15 and 0.25 msec after the current pulse. For values of voltage and pressure typical for 10.6 μm laser operation a temperature of ～430 K was measured. The system returned to thermal equilibrium after 23 and 27 msec. Thermal diffusion time calculations indicate that the heating is confined to within 3 to 4 mm of the central axis.     

Control of the refractive index change in fused silica glasses induced by a loosely focused femtosecond laser

We demonstrate waveguide fabrication using of a loosely focused femtosecond laser that induces both nonlinear ionization and nonlinear propagation in silica glasses without any scanning process. The numerical aperture is chosen to be 0.007 to avoid spatial splitting of the laser pulses during the nonlinear propagation of the femtosecond laser pulses inside the fused silica glass. It also enables a uniform cylindrical refractive index change, which acts as an optical waveguide, to be induced. We found that the induction of irregular refractive index changes is related to the free electron density of the focused area and is controlled by decreasing the NA. The length, position, and core diameter of the fabricated waveguide can be controlled by the pulse-width, energy, and irradiation time of the incident laser. By using this technique, we varied the length of the fabricated waveguides between 20 m and 6 mm, while keeping the core diameter at around 5 m. PACS 42.70.Ce; 42.82.Et; 61.80.Ba