PHOTON ACCELERATION DRIVEN BY AN INTENSE LASER PULSE

Interaction of a laser field with a plasma wave is studied by metric optics. Analysis shows that the frequency upshifting of the laser pulse results from the plasma density gradient. A laser beam can be thought of as a packet of photons moving in a plasma and thus the laser frequency upshifting is equivalent to photon acceleration. Examination of the three-dimensional motion equations shows that a laser beam diffraction occurs in the presence of a radial variation of the plasma density. It is argued that the focusing mechanism originating from the plasma wave can curb laser diffraction so that photons may be trapped in the plasma wave and accelerated continuously.     

Wakefield generation as the mechanism behind spectral shift of a short laser pulse

An equation describing the dynamics of plasma wave generation by a short intense laser pulse is analyzed to find a relation between the difference in mean-square pulse frequency before and after laser-matter interaction and the electric field amplitude in the wakefield plasma wave generated by the laser pulse. This relation can be effectively used in systems for wakefield diagnostics. The relation is applied to several geometries of interaction between a pulse and an ionizing gas or preformed plasma.     

Allowable propagation of short pulse laser beam in a plasma channel and electromagnetic solitary waves

Nonparaxial and nonlinear propagation of a short intense laser beam in a parabolic plasma channel is analyzed by means of the variational method and nonlinear dynamics. The beam propagation properties are classified by five kinds of behaviors. In particularly, the electromagnetic solitary wave for finite pulse laser is found beside the other four propagation cases including beam periodically oscillating with defocussing and focusing amplitude, constant spot size, beam catastrophic focusing. It is also found that the laser pulse can be allowed to propagate in the plasma channel only when a certain relation for laser parameters and plasma channel parameters is satisfied. For the solitary wave, it may provide an effective way to obtain ultra-short laser pulse.     

Nonlinear pulse propagation and phase velocity of laser-driven plasma waves

Laser evolution and plasma wave excitation by a relativistically intense short-pulse laser in underdense plasma are investigated in the broad pulse limit, including the effects of pulse steepening, frequency redshifting, and energy depletion. The nonlinear plasma wave phase velocity is shown to be significantly lower than the laser group velocity and further decreases as the pulse propagates owing to laser evolution. This lowers the thresholds for trapping and wave breaking and reduces the energy gain and efficiency of laser-plasma accelerators that use a uniform plasma profile.     

Frequency shift and pulse compression of an ultrashort pulse in a large-amplitude plasma wave

By calculating the momenta of a coupled set of nonlinear equations of laserpulse-plasma wave interaction in the weak relativistic approximation,the conditions for fre-quency up-shift have been found.That the energy change of the pulse due to frequency shiftis compensated by the change of plasma wave energy results in photon number conservation.Some factors that affect the frequency up-shift are studied.It is also found that the laser pulsecan be compressed when it is located near the valley of plasma density perturbation and ifsome threshold value of the plasma wave field is exceeded.     

Large amplitude lower hybrid wave driven by laser and its effect on electron acceleration in a magnetic plasma channel

A laser propagating through a magnetic plasma channel can drive a lower hybrid wave having frequency less than the plasma frequency. The lower hybrid wave can be driven to large amplitude if the laser pulse duration is comparable to the lower hybrid wave period. We derived the expression for the maximum amplitude of lower hybrid mode. This large amplitude mode is responsible for additional electron acceleration by betatron resonance in laser acceleration schemes.     

Stochastic heating and acceleration of electrons in colliding laser fields in plasma

We propose a mechanism that leads to efficient acceleration of electrons in plasma by two counterpropagating laser pulses. It is triggered by stochastic motion of electrons when the laser fields exceed some threshold amplitudes, as found in single-electron dynamics. It is further confirmed in particle-in-cell simulations. In vacuum or tenuous plasma, electron acceleration in the case with two colliding laser pulses can be much more efficient than with one laser pulse only. In plasma at moderate densities, such as a few percent of the critical density, the amplitude of the Raman-backscattered wave is high enough to serve as the second counterpropagating pulse to trigger the electron stochastic motion. As a result, even with one intense laser pulse only, electrons can be heated up to a temperature much higher than the corresponding laser ponderomotive potential.     

电子等离子体波对超短脉冲激光传播过程的作用

提出等离子体波对光脉冲产生相位调制的观点,把光脉冲在背景等离子体波中传播时的频率移动与脉宽压缩效应统一起来。给出了脉宽演化的方程,它类似于在势阱中运动的经典粒子的能量守恒方程;估算了脉宽压缩对应的等离子体波振幅阈值。数值计算进一步证实这些结论。最后指出实验上用等离子体波压缩短脉冲激光脉宽的可能性。 关键词：     

A New Scheme for High‐Intensity Laser‐Driven Electron Acceleration in a Plasma

We propose a new approach to high‐intensity relativistic laser‐driven electron acceleration in a plasma. Here, we demonstrate that a plasma wave generated by a stimulated forward‐scattering of an incident laser pulse can be in the longest acceleration phase with injected relativistic beam electrons. This is why the plasma wave has the maximum amplification coefficient which is determined by the acceleration time and the breakdown (overturn) electric field in which the acceleration of the injected beam electrons occurs. We must note that for the longest acceleration phase the relativity of the injected beam electrons plays a crucial role in our scheme. We estimate qualitatively the acceleration parameters of relativistic electrons in the field of a plasma wave generated at the stimulated forward‐scattering of a high‐intensity laser pulse in a plasma. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

激光通过短标尺长度薄层等离子体时的吸收,反射与透射

通过数据求解亥姆霍兹波动方程，研究了激光辐射薄膜靶产生的不同厚度、不同标尺长度的薄层等离子体对激光的反射，透射及吸收（逆轫致吸收，共振吸收）率随入射角的变化情况，小角度入射时，短脉冲（～ｐｓ量级）激光打靶产生的标尺长度较小的等离子体对激光的吸收率比长脉冲打靶时低，但在大角度入射时，短脉冲打靶时等离子体的吸收率反而比长脉冲打靶时高。     

Conditions for laser-induced plasma to effectively remove nano-particles on silicon surfaces

Particles can be removed from a silicon surface by means of irradiation and a laser plasma shock wave.The particles and silicon are heated by the irradiation and they will expand differently due to their different expansion coefficients,making the particles easier to be removed.Laser plasma can ionize and even vaporize particles more significantly than an incident laser and,therefore,it can remove the particles more efficiently.The laser plasma shock wave plays a dominant role in removing particles,which is attributed to its strong burst force.The pressure of the laser plasma shock wave is determined by the laser pulse energy and the gap between the focus of laser and substrate surface.In order to obtain the working conditions for particle removal,the removal mechanism,as well as the temporal and spatial characteristics of velocity,propagation distance and pressure of shock wave have been researched.On the basis of our results,the conditions for nano-particle removal are achieved.     

Multi-level optical data storage in a photobleaching polymer using two-photon excitation under continuous wave illumination

A multi-level recording method is implemented in a photobleaching polymer using two-photon excitation under continuous wave illumination. It is experimentally shown that information encoded with ten levels of darkness can be successfully stored. This multi-level bit optical data storage method is of importance in increasing the storage density of a recording material and the speed of data access.     

Real-time observation of phase-controlled molecular wave-packet interference

The quantum interference of two molecular wave packets has been precisely controlled in the B electronic state of the I2 molecule by using a pair of fs laser pulses whose relative phase is locked within the attosecond time scale and its real-time evolution has been observed by another fs laser pulse. It is clearly observed that the temporal evolution changes drastically as a function of the relative phase between the locked pulses, allowing us to read both amplitude and phase information stored in the wave functions of the molecular ensemble.     

Double-line terawatt OPCPA laser system for exciting beat wave oscillations

A double-line terawatt beat laser (BEAT) is developed for exciting beat wave oscillations. BEAT consists of two oscillators and an amplification system including optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) in which two individual pulses with wavelength separations of 10–35 nm are amplified, recompressed, and focused as a single beam. The recompressed pulse trace shows that a 150-fs pulse duration full width at half maximum was modulated at a beating period of 72 fs. This beating period matches a resonant excitation of plasma wave with an electron density of 2.5 × 10¹⁸ cm^?3, resulting in excitation of a beat wave in hydrogen plasma with wave amplitude of 15 GV/m. The multiple beating oscillations can amplify the plasma wave and improve its structure. This scheme would be ideal for stabilizing the plasma wave strength in the plasma cavity and for realizing a practical laser plasma accelerator.     

激光对金属铜微孔加工的热力学过程研究

采用纳秒激光脉冲对铜金属进行了打孔实验,对微孔形貌进行了观察并对其热力学过程进行了相应的分析。研究表明,微孔的形貌是由凹坑和周围隆起组成,坑深随着脉冲能量的增加而增加。热力学分析表明,激光辐照金属打孔需要两个基本条件：一是激光脉冲能量的沉积,使金属材料发生熔化、汽化以及电离等相变,使得材料更容易去除;激光等离子体作为二次热源会更有效把激光脉冲能量耦合到金属表面;二是激光等离子体的冲击波效应,这种效应会把发生相变的材料有效及时排出,从而有效形成微孔。     

Nonlinear interaction of ultraintense laser pulse with relativistic thin plasma foil in the radiation pressure-dominant regime

We present a study of the effect of laser pulse temporal profile on the energy /momentum acquired by the ions as a result of the ultraintense laser pulse focussed on a thin plasma layer in the radiation pressure-dominant (RPD) regime. In the RPD regime, the plasma foil is pushed by ultraintense laser pulse when the radiation cannot propagate through the foil, while the electron and ion layers move together. The nonlinear character of laser–matter interaction is exhibited in the relativistic frequency shift, and also change in the wave amplitude as the EM wave gets reflected by the relativistically moving thin dense plasma layer. Relativistic effects in a high-energy plasma provide matching conditions that make it possible to exchange very effectively ordered kinetic energy and momentum between the EM fields and the plasma. When matter moves at relativistic velocities, the efficiency of the energy transfer from the radiation to thin plasma foil is more than 30% and in ultrarelativistic case it approaches one. The momentum /energy transfer to the ions is found to depend on the temporal profile of the laser pulse. Our numerical results show that for the same laser and plasma parameters, a Lorentzian pulse can accelerate ions upto 0.2 GeV within 10 fs which is 1.5 times larger than that a Gaussian pulse can.     

Monoenergetic electronic beam production using dual collinear laser pulses

The production of monoenergetic electron beams by two copropagating ultrashort laser pulses is investigated both by experiment and using particle-in-cell simulations. By proper timing between guiding and driver pulses, a high-amplitude plasma wave is generated and sustained for longer than is possible with either of the laser pulses individually, due to plasma waveguiding of the driver by the guiding pulse. The growth of the plasma wave is inferred by the measurement of monoenergetic electron beams with low divergence that are not measured by using either of the pulses individually. This scheme can be easily implemented and may allow more control of the interaction than is available to the single pulse scheme.     

激光尾波场中光子加速研究

在SILEX-Ⅰ激光装置上,测量了超短超强激光脉冲与稀薄等离子体相互作用之后的透射谱. 实验中发现,激光尾波场产生的密度扰动导致等离子体折射率随时间空间不断变化,导致光子的加速/减速. 透射谱上主要表现为激光频率谱峰的劈裂和随密度变化的展宽,没有发现与前向受激拉曼散射或自调制不稳定性相联系的边频波. 同时,利用LPIC++无碰撞粒子模拟程序模拟了超短超强激光与稀薄等离子体相互作用后的透射谱,模拟结果也发现了明显的光子加速过程. 关键词： 超短超强激光脉冲 透射谱 光子加速/减速     

Channeling of relativistic laser pulses, surface waves, and electron acceleration

The interaction of a high-energy relativistic laser pulse with an underdense plasma is studied by means of 3-dimensional particle in cell simulations and theoretical analysis. For powers above the threshold for channeling, the laser pulse propagates as a single mode in an electron-free channel during a time of the order of 1?picosecond. The steep laser front gives rise to the excitation of a surface wave along the sharp boundaries of the ion channel. The surface wave first traps electrons at the channel wall and preaccelerates them to relativistic energies. These particles then have enough energy to be further accelerated in a second stage through an interplay between the acceleration due to the betatron resonance and the acceleration caused by the longitudinal part of the surface wave electric field. It is necessary to introduce this two-stage process to explain the large number of high-energy electrons observed in the simulations.     

激光等离子体二维相对论电磁粒子模拟

研制了激光等离子体二维相对论电磁粒子模拟程序(2DCIC)。追踪几万甚至百万个模拟粒子在外加激光场和自洽场中运动,自洽地计算电荷和电流密度,求解完全的Maxwel方程,电子的相对论运动方程和离子的牛顿运动方程,辅以灵活的诊断研究波-波,波-粒子相互作用的发生、发展和饱和的细节以及时间演化规律。激光可以正入射,也可以斜入射;等离子体可以是均匀密度,也可以具有密度梯度;为了节约机时,还发展了并行运算。物理模型参数可调,既适用于研究激光聚变等离子体相互作用,也适用于超短脉冲超强激光等离子体相互作用和其它等离子体问题。经过多次试算检验,对等离子体平衡态进行了计算研究,对于超短脉冲超强激光的传播也进行了初步模拟计算。