高强度激光与等离子体相互作用中的受激Raman级联散射、光子凝聚以及大振幅电磁孤立子的产生与加速

应用一维相对论电磁粒子模拟程序，详细研究了线性极化强激光入射到无碰撞稀疏密度长等离子体中引起的受激Raman散射、Raman级联散射、级联散射到光子凝聚、以及大振幅电磁孤立子的产生与加速. 通过研究发现：在适当的激光振幅和等离子体状态下，强的光子凝聚现象会导致大振幅电磁孤立子的产生，电磁孤立子可以以静止、向后以及向前加速的形式存在；在密度均匀的等离子体中，电磁孤立子的加速不仅依赖于激光振幅而且依赖于等离子体的长度；电磁孤立子的电磁频率大约为未扰动电子等离子体振荡频率的二分之一左右，孤立子内电磁场的电场具有半周期结构，相应电磁场的磁场以及静电场则具有一个完整的周期结构. 关键词： 粒子模拟 受激Raman散射 Raman级联散射 光子凝聚 电磁孤立子     

Large amplitude electromagnetic solitons in intense laser plasma interaction

This paper shows that the standing, backward- and forward-accelerated large amplitude relativistic electromagnetic solitons induced by intense laser pulse in long underdense collisionless homogeneous plasmas can be observed by particle simulations. In addition to the inhomogeneity of the plasma density, the acceleration of the solitons also depends upon not only the laser amplitude but also the plasma length. The electromagnetic frequency of the solitons is between about half and one of the unperturbed electron plasma frequency. The electrostatic field inside the soliton has a one-cycle structure in space, while the transverse electric and magnetic fields have half-cycle and one-cycle structure respectively. Analytical estimates for the existence of the solitons and their electromagnetic frequencies qualitatively coincide with our simulation results.     

Nonlinear interaction of a circularly polarized electromagnetic wave with a dense laser plasma

The interaction of an intense circularly polarized laser pulse with a layer of plasma of supercritical density is studied. The nonlinear skin effect for the electromagnetic field and the coefficient of collisionless absorption of the laser pulse were calculated analytically. It is shown that, in the process of interaction with the plasma, the laser pulse generates solitons propagating through the plasma layer and transferring the radiation through the opaque medium. The coefficient of transparency of the plasma layer for the soliton-like penetration of the laser radiation was calculated. The plasma parameters at which the collisionless absorption is small as compared to the transformation of the laser energy into solitons were found.     

飞秒激光等离子体中电子热传导现象的数值模拟

采用相对论电磁粒子模拟程序研究了飞秒激光等离子体相互作用中产生的电流密度、电场和自生磁场的发展演化过程。介绍了电子的非局域热输运的基本特性以及激光加热过程中温度烧蚀前沿稠密等离子体子区的预热效应、临界面附近的限流效应,以及冕区的反扩散与限流效应,得到了经典Spitzer-Harm理论描述的电子热传导随自生磁场的演化情形。数值模拟表明:在线性强激光作用下,由于电子初始时刻的无规则热运动,在等离子体上激发电磁不稳定性,而不稳定性激发的强电磁场使电子束在非常短的距离内沉积能量,同时对在激光有质动力推开电子时形成的超热电子能量输运产生抑制作用。     

On the parametric excitation of surface oscillations of a cold plasma

The excitation of surface oscillations of cold plasmas is studied for external electric fields perpendicular to the plasma density gradient. Boundary conditions for electromagnetic fields on the plane boundary between plasmas with different densities are derived, and the dispersion relation for the excitation of the surface modes is obtained. The effects of metallic walls of a vacuum chamber are considered, together with the excitation of surface oscillations of a plasma slab immersed in a plasma with different density.     

Quasi-static electromagnetic pulse generated by ultra-intense laser pulses

A solitary structure of quasi-static electromagnetic pulse is formed in moderate density plasmas by a propagation of ultra-intense and ultra-short laser pulse, which is formed after the laser pulse is depleted and slowly propagates in the laser propagation direction. The structure is sustained by huge magnetic pressure and compensating electric field which are in an electromagnetic equilibrium together with the plasma motion. The solitary structure is formed when the resonance condition is satisfied and laser intensity is high enough to induce huge magnetic field pressure.     

磁化等离子体光子晶体的FDTD分析

磁化等离子体光子晶体是磁化等离子体和介质(真空)构成的人工周期性结构.本文用磁化等离子体的分段线形电流密度卷积(PLCDRC)时域有限差分(FDTD)算法分析了磁化等离子体光子晶体特性.分析了磁化等离子体参数对电磁带隙的影响.从时域的角度分析了高斯脉冲在磁化等离子体光子晶体中的传播过程，给出了时域反射和透射波形.从频域的角度给出了磁化等离子体光子晶体的电磁反射系数和透射系数，并对结果进行了分析. 关键词： 磁化等离子体 光子晶体 时域有限差分法     

Using the Steepened Plasma Profile and Wave Breaking Threshold in Laser‐Plasma Interaction

In this work we evaluate the interaction of high intense laser beam with a steepened density profile. During laser interaction with underdense plasma by freely expanding plasma regime, modification of density profile is possible. In this paper we have investigated the ultra short laser pulse interaction with nonisothermal and collisionless plasma. We consider self–focusing as an effective nonlinear phenomenon that tends to increase when the laser power is more than critical rate. By leading the expanded plasma to a preferred location near to critical density, laser reflection is obtained, so the density profile will be locally steepened. The electromagnetic fields are evaluated in this new profile. We show the amplitude and period of electrical field oscillation are increased by reducing the steepened scale length. Also our numerical results identify that by reducing the steepened scale length, the electrical field is increased to wave breaking threshold limit. This high gradient electrical field causes the effective beam loading during the wave breaking phenomenon. The wave breaking can be the initial point for other acceleration regime as cavity or channel guiding regime. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

强激光与等离子体相互作用中低频电磁场孤子波的产生及其捕获

用二维粒子模拟程序研究了超短脉冲强激光与等离子体相互作用中局域低频电磁场的产生现象.这种低频电磁场在超短脉冲激光激发尾波场、脉冲后沿产生频率下移的过程中形成.通常它们的振荡频率接近于或低于电子等离子体振荡频率，因而被捕获在等离子体中(即传播速度接近于零).在演化过程中，通常它们以孤子场的形式出现.这种孤子波的形成及其演化与离子运动有极大关系.用相对论强激光脉冲可以产生达到相对论振幅的电磁场孤子波，后者可以把离子加速到非常高的能量.研究还表明，在二维几何位形下，孤子波产生与入射光的偏振态有很大关系.     

线极化强激光与轻元素气体相互作用产生的电子剩余能

 对线极化超短脉冲强场电离进行了回顾和分析。对不同参数的超短脉冲、线极化强激光与轻元素气体靶相互作用产生的等离子体中电子剩余能进行了解析和粒子模拟(CIC)数值计算。考虑到强场线极化光产生的等离子体的高电离度和低电子温度的特点,采用了有别于通常计算逆轫致吸收的方法,用零温度近似计算逆轫致效应。CIC模拟计算强场与物质相互作用物理过程中还考虑了纵向电场效应。给出了强场线极化光与氦和氖元素气态靶相互作用的理论计算结果和相应的结论。     

Division of the energy and of the momentum of electromagnetic waves in linear media into electromagnetic and material parts

We defend a natural division of the energy density, energy flux and momentum density of electromagnetic waves in linear media in electromagnetic and material parts. In this division, the electromagnetic part of these quantities have the same form as in vacuum when written in terms of the macroscopic electric and magnetic fields, the material momentum is calculated directly from the Lorentz force that acts on the charges of the medium, the material energy is the sum of the kinetic and potential energies of the charges of the medium and the material energy flux results from the interaction of the electric field with the magnetized medium. We present reasonable models for linear dispersive non-absorptive dielectric and magnetic media that agree with this division. We also argue that the electromagnetic momentum of our division can be associated with the electromagnetic relativistic momentum, inspired on the recent work of Barnett [Phys. Rev. Lett. 104 (2010) 070401] that showed that the Abraham momentum is associated with the kinetic momentum and the Minkowski momentum is associated with the canonical momentum.     

Particle-in-cell modeling of relativistic laser–plasma interaction with the adjustable-damping,direct implicit method

Implicit particle-in-cell codes offer advantages over their explicit counterparts in that they suffer weaker stability constraints on the need to resolve the higher frequency modes of the system. This feature may prove particularly valuable for modeling the interaction of high-intensity laser pulses with overcritical plasmas, in the case where the electrostatic modes in the denser regions are of negligible influence on the physical processes under study. To this goal, we have developed the new two-dimensional electromagnetic code ELIXIRS (standing for ELectromagnetic Implicit X-dimensional Iterative Relativistic Solver) based on the relativistic extension of the so-called Direct Implicit Method [D. Hewett, A.B. Langdon, Electromagnetic direct implicit plasma simulation, J. Comput. Phys. 72 (1987) 121–155]. Dissipation-free propagation of light waves into vacuum is achieved by an adjustable-damping electromagnetic solver. In the high-density case where the Debye length is not resolved, satisfactory energy conservation is ensured by the use of high-order weight factors. In this paper, we first derive the electromagnetic direct implicit method as a simplified Newton scheme. Its linear properties are then investigated through numerically solving the relation dispersions obtained for both light and plasma waves, accounting for finite space and time steps. Finally, our code is successfully benchmarked against explicit particle-in-cell simulations for two kinds of physical problems: plasma expansion into vacuum and relativistic laser–plasma interaction. In both cases, we will demonstrate the robustness of the implicit solver for crude discretizations, as well as the gains in efficiency which can be realized over standard explicit simulations.     

Attosecond electron bunches

Electron bunches of attosecond duration may coherently interact with laser beams. We show how p-polarized ultraintense laser pulses interacting with sharp boundaries of overdense plasmas can produce such bunches. Particle-in-cell simulations demonstrate attosecond bunch generation during pulse propagation through a thin channel or in the course of grazing incidence on a plasma layer. In the plasma, due to the self-intersection of electron trajectories, electron concentration is abruptly peaked. A group of counterstream electrons is pushed away from the plasma through nulls in the electromagnetic field, having inherited a peaked electron density distribution and forming relativistic ultrashort bunches in vacuum.     

等离子体密度标长对高次谐波转换效率的影响

通过等离子体粒子模拟研究了在强激光与等离子体相互作用产生高次谐波的过程中,等离子体密度标长对转换效率的影响,计算了在不同密度标长下p偏振非相对论强度激光与高密度等离子体相互作用产生高次谐波的转换效率,发现等离子体密度标长对转换效率有重要的影响,这种影响与谐波级次,等离子体密度,激光脉冲宽度有关。     

Influence of vacuum space on formation of potential sheath in plasmas

Properties of potential sheaths developed in plasmas are investigated in terms of the plasma Debye length and the dimension of vacuum space. Biased plasma potential and the potential profile depend very sensitively on the geometrical configuration of plasma and vacuum space. The potential sheath is never developed near electrodes in high-density plasmas where the Debye length is much less than the dimension of the vacuum space. In this case, most of the potential drops occur in the vacuum space and almost no electric field exists inside the plasma. Parametric investigation of the potential sheath in terms of the vacuum-space and plasma dimensions is carried out.     

Z箍缩等离子体磁重联现象

分析了磁重联对晕等离子体加速和能量平衡过程的影响。分析表明晕等离子体向轴心的加速过程分为两个阶段:第一阶段晕等离子体在磁压或热压(依赖于丝数)作用下向轴心运动;第二阶段晕等离子体由于磁重联过程被加速到阿尔芬速度,并到达轴心形成先驱等离子体。估算表明重联层的厚度与离子的惯性长度具有相同的数量级,电流片内电子运动和离子的运动是解耦合的。在内爆滞止阶段电荷分离产生强的径向电场,这个电场将磁能转化为等离子体轴向(z方向)动能,内爆动能和轴向动能共同转化为X射线辐射能,以此解释了X射线能量大于内爆动能这一观测结果。分析了磁重联电磁脉冲的性质,对于1 MA驱动条件,电磁脉冲的总能量可达kJ量级。     

Generation of Uniform Plasmas for Beat Wave Experiments

The laser plasma "beat wave" mechanism for the generation of ultrahigh electric fields requires plasmas of several meters length with density uniformity of about 1 percent. Multiphoton ionization of molecular hydrogen gas at a pressure of a few torr provides a scalable mechanism for generating these plasmas using the same laser beams that drive the beat wave. We describe measurements of electron density, temperature, and uniformity of plasmas generated by a frequency doubled Neodymium glass laser, at an irradiance of about 1014 W · cm-2. The plasma density corresponds to 100-percent ionization and is measured to be uniform to within the measurement errors over a length of 8 mm.     

Resonant interaction of an electromagnetic wave with an inhomogeneous plasma slab

Resonant interaction at oblique incidence of an electromagnetic wave on an inhomogeneous plasma slab is studied. The time evolution of this interaction is solved numerically from two-fluid equations, adiabatic equation for electron pressure and from Maxwell equations. It is shown that the electromagnetic energy of an incident wave is transformed both into the heat energy and into the energy of plasma oscillations in the direction of density gradient. The distribution of the transformed energy between the heat energy and the energy of plasma oscillations is strongly dependent on the plasma temperature. The ratio of heat energy to the energy of plasma oscillations is growing with growing temperature. The plasma oscillations are generated by magnetic induction of the penetrating wave. In a cold plasma they are generated especially in the overdense region and their frequency is equal to local plasma frequency. The electric field in the direction of plasma gradient has a form of a wave packet whose envelope reaches a maximum at resonance. The characteristic wavelength in the wave packet decreases and the amplitude of the packet increases with the time.     

Nonlinear interaction of the radiation with the pondermotive force deformated plasmas

The interaction of the powerful p-polarised radiation with the plasmas is studied. It is obtained the picture of the space and time evolution of the electromagnetic field in the plasmas and the picture of the particle's redistribution connected with the ponderomotive force of the plasma field and with the hydrodynamic motion as well. The dynamics of the electromagnetic field absorption and the distribution of the absorbed energy between the cold and hot electrons are investigated. The role of such general processes in the effect of second harmonic generation is demonstrated.