Ultrabright γ-ray emission from the interaction of an intense laser pulse with a near-critical-density plasma

An efficient scheme for generating ultrabright γ-rays from the interaction of an intense laser pulse with a near-critical-density plasma is studied by using the two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation including quantum electrodynamic effects. We investigate the effects of target shape on γ-ray generation efficiency using three configurations of the solid foils attached behind the near-critical-density plasma: a flat foil without a channel (target 1), a flat foil with a channel (target 2), and a convex foil with a channel (target 3). When an intense laser propagates in a near-critical-density plasma, a large number of electrons are trapped and accelerated to GeV energy, and emit γ-rays via nonlinear betatron oscillation in the first stage. In the second stage, the accelerated electrons collide with the laser pulse reflected from the foil and emit high-energy, high-density γ-rays via nonlinear Compton scattering. The simulation results show that compared with the other two targets, target 3 affords better focusing of the laser field and electrons, which decreases the divergence angle of γ-photons. Consequently, denser and brighter γ-rays are emitted when target 3 is used. Specifically, a dense γ-ray pulse with a peak brightness of 4.6×10²⁶ photons/s/mm²/mrad²/0.1%BW (at 100 MeV) and 1.8×10²³ photons/s/mm²/mrad²/0.1%BW (at 2 GeV) are obtained at a laser intensity of 8.5×10²² W/cm² when the plasma density is equal to the critical plasma density n_c. In addition, for target 3, the effects of plasma channel length, foil curvature radius, laser polarization, and laser intensity on the γ-ray emission are discussed, and optimal values based on a series of simulations are proposed.     

Modulation instability of an intense laser beam in an unmagnetized electron–positron–ion plasma

The modulation instability of an intense circularly polarized laser beam propagating in an unmagnetized, cold electron–positron–ion plasma is investigated. Adopting a generalized Karpman method, a three-dimensional nonlinear equation is shown to govern the laser field. Then the conditions for modulation instability and the temporal growth rate are obtained analytically. In order to compare with the usual electron–ion plasmas, the effect of positron concentration is considered. It is found that the increase in positron-to-electron density ratio shifts the instability region towards higher vertical wave numbers but does not cause displacement along the parallel wave number direction, and the growth rate increases as the positron-to-electron density ratio increases.     

Self-focusing of Hermite–Gaussian laser beams in plasma under plasma density ramp

Self-focusing of Hermite–Gaussian laser beams in plasma under plasma density ramp has been investigated. It is known that a laser beam shows an oscillatory self-focusing and defocusing behavior with the propagation distance. To overcome the defocusing, localized upward plasma density ramp is introduced, so that the laser beam attains a minimum spot size and maintains it with only a mild ripple. The density ramp could be important for the self-focusing of a Hermite–Gaussian laser by choosing the laser and plasma parameters appropriately. Self-focusing becomes stronger as the propagation distance increases. The behavior of beam-width parameters with the distance of propagation is presented graphically.     

Propagation of a Hermite–Laguerre–Gaussian beam in a turbulent atmosphere

The propagation and spreading of a Hermite–Laguerre–Gaussian (HLG) beam in a turbulent atmosphere has been investigated. Based on the extended Huygens–Fresnel integral and some mathematical techniques, analytical expressions for the average intensity, the effective beam size, and the kurtosis parameter of an HLG beam in a turbulent atmosphere are derived, respectively. The average intensity distribution and the spreading properties of HLG beams in a turbulent atmosphere are numerically demonstrated. Upon propagation in a turbulent atmosphere, the central lobes in the beam spot of the HLG beam will evolve into the dominant lobes, and the peripheral lobes around the central lobes will evolve into the subdominant lobes. The influences of the additional angle parameter and the transversal mode numbers on the propagation of HLG beams in a turbulent atmosphere are also discussed. As the coherence length of the turbulence is determined by the propagation distance, the effect of the additional angle parameter on the effective beam size is related to the propagation distance. The kurtosis parameter generally increases with increasing the additional angle parameter. The influence of the transversal mode numbers on the kurtosis parameter is related to the additional angle parameter and the propagation distance. According to the practical need of free-space optical communications and remote sensing, the HLG beam in a turbulent atmosphere can be controlled by choice of the additional angle parameter and the transversal mode numbers.     

Field properties and vacuum electron acceleration in a laser beam of high-order Laguerre–Gaussian mode

The electric field intensity distribution and the phase velocity distribution of high-order Laguerre–Gaussian (LGρ?) mode laser beams are analyzed. Using three-dimensional test particle simulation, the numerical results of electrons accelerated by LG00, LG40 and LG41 mode laser beams are presented. Compared with the LG00 mode (the fundamental mode) laser beam, low-energy injection electrons can be more favorably accelerated in a high-order LG mode laser beam. Contrary to anticipation, a high-order LG mode laser beam with intense axial electric field distribution is inferior to the LG00 mode in capture acceleration for electrons with high injection energy.     

Nonlinear propagation of weakly relativistic ion-acoustic waves in electron–positron–ion plasma

This work presents theoretical and numerical discussion on the dynamics of ion-acoustic solitary wave for weakly relativistic regime in unmagnetized plasma comprising non-extensive electrons, Boltzmann positrons and relativistic ions. In order to analyse the nonlinear propagation phenomena, the Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) equation is derived using the well-known reductive perturbation method. The integration of the derived equation is carried out using the ansatz method and the generalized Riccati equation mapping method. The influence of plasma parameters on the amplitude and width of the soliton and the electrostatic nonlinear propagation of weakly relativistic ion-acoustic solitary waves are described. The obtained results of the nonlinear low-frequency waves in such plasmas may be helpful to understand various phenomena in astrophysical compact object and space physics.     

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.     

Experimental generation of a partially coherent Laguerre–Gaussian beam

We report experimental generation of a partially coherent Laguerre–Gaussian beam with mode orders 0 and l (i.e., LG_0l beam) using a rotating ground-glass plate and a spatial light modulator. Focusing properties of the generated beam are studied both theoretically and experimentally. It is found that the focused intensity of the LG_0l beam is shaped through varying the initial spatial coherence, and our experimental results agree well with the theoretical predictions. Our results will be useful in particle trapping and free-space optical communications.     

Partially coherent Gaussian–Schell model pulse beam propagation in slant atmospheric turbulence

Based on the extended Huygens-Fresnel principle, a two-frequency, two-point cross-spectral density function of partially coherent Gaussian-Schell model pulse （GSMP） beam propagation in slant atmospheric turbulence is derived. Using the Markov approximation method and on the assumption that （w1 - w2）/（w1 ＋ w2） ≤ 1, the theory obtained is valid for turbulence of any strength and can be applied to narrow-band signals. The expressions for average beam intensity, the beam size, and the two-frequency complex degree of coherence of a GSMP beam are obtained. The numerical results are presented, and the effects of the frequency, initial pulse width, initial beam radius, zenith angle, and outer scales on the complex degree of coherence are discussed. This study provides a better understanding of the second-order statistics of a GSMP beam propagating through atmospheric turbulence in the space-frequency domain.     

Time-sequence imaging of relativistic laser–plasma interactions using a novel two-color probe pulse

We describe and demonstrate a novel experimental technique to record two picosecond-separated images of the evolution of a single-shot laser-produced plasma using a two-color probe beam. In this technique, the probe beam was first partially frequency doubled. The 1ω and 2ω components were then temporally separated in a dispersive medium. The pulses remained intrinsically synchronized, both having a duration of ∼150 fs, but they were separated by 4.1 ps. Using a Nomarskii-type interferometer, this novel technique was used to obtain two time-resolved snapshots of the evolution of the electron density at different time steps during the formation of a relativistic plasma channel.     

Acceleration and radiation of externally injected electrons in laser plasma wakefield driven by a Laguerre-Gaussian pulse

By using three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, externally injected electron beam acceleration and radiation in donut-like wake fields driven by a Laguerre-Gaussian pulse are investigated. Studies show that in the acceleration process the total charge and azimuthal momenta of electrons can be stably maintained at a distance of a few hundreds of micrometers. Electrons experience low-frequency spiral rotation and high-frequency betatron oscillation, which leads to a synchrotron-like radiation. The radiation spectrum is mainly determined by the betatron motion of electrons. The far field distribution of radiation intensity shows axial symmetry due to the uniform transverse injection and spiral rotation of electrons. Our studies suggest a new way to simultaneously generate hollow electron beam and radiation source from a compact laser plasma accelerator.     

尾波场与相对论效应对激光脉冲自相位调制及频移影响的比较研究

对共振和非共振情形下尾波场效应与相对论效应对强激光脉冲在稀薄等离子体中传输的影响 作了详细比较.尾波场效应导致脉冲自相位调制的不对称性，其大小与初始脉冲形状和脉宽 大小有关.在长脉冲极限下，尾波场效应远小于相对论效应，从而可以忽略；在短脉冲极限 下，尾波场效应可以抵消相对论效应.在共振情况下，尾波场效应导致脉冲内大部分光子减 速. 关键词： 脉冲传输 等离子体 相对论效应 尾波场效应 自相位调制     

Modulation of ionization on laser frequency in ultra-short pulse intense laser--gas-target

Based on the dispersion relation of intense laser pulse propagating in gradually ionized plasma, this paper discusses the frequency modulation induced by ionization of an ultra-short intense laser pulse interacting with a gas target. The relationship between the frequency modulation and the ionization rate, the plasmas frequency variation, and the polarization of atoms (ions) is analysed. The numerical results indicate that, at high frequency, the polarization of atoms (ions) plays a more important role than plasma frequency variation in modulating the laser frequency, and the laser frequency variation is different at different positions of the laser pulse.     

Nonlinear propagation of relativistically intense electromagnetic waves in a collisionless plasma

We discuss the nonlinear propagation of relativistically intense electromagnetic waves into collisionless plasmas with special emphasis on one dimensional plane wave solutions of the propagating, standing and modulated types. These solutions exhibit a rich variety of phenomena associated with relativistic electron mass variation and coupling between transverse electromagnetic and longitudinal fields. They have important applications to problems of laser propagation, self-focusing in overdense plasmas, particle and photon acceleration and to electromagnetic radiation around pulsars.     

强短脉冲辐照叠加态原子增强阿秒脉冲强度

采用强短激光脉冲辐照叠加态原子提高孤立阿秒脉冲的强度。数值研究表明,与强短脉冲 (脉冲宽度只有几个光学周期的超短脉冲）辐照基态原子获得孤立阿秒脉冲相比,采用叠加 态原子的方案不仅同样可以获得孤立的阿秒脉冲,而且阿秒脉冲的强度得到显著增强。     

超短超强脉冲激光产生的电离通道的存活性态分析

用摄动理论对超短超强脉冲激光产生的电离通道进行了研究.得出了在复合、吸附、退吸附作用影响下，电离通道在不同演化时期，各种带电粒子密度的渐近表达式.揭示了各种作用对通道存活性态的影响. 关键词： 密度 激光脉冲 等离子体通道 摄动     

超短强激光脉冲激励甲烷团簇的内电离机理

采用三维粒子动力学模拟方法研究了甲烷团簇在超短强激光脉冲激励下的爆炸动力学行为,重点讨论了几种典型的内电离机理对团簇爆炸过程中离子的价态和动能的影响.研究表明,在激光脉冲强度比较小的情况下,团簇中的原子主要是在光场作用下通过隧道电离的方式发生电离.当激光场进一步增强时,势垒压低电离是电离的主要方式.在相同的较高激光强度下,团簇更容易通过势垒压低电离达到高的电离价态.团簇发生电离后,其内部库仑电场的点火电离效应和内部滞留自由电子的碰撞电离效应也将增强团簇的再次电离过程. 关键词： 超短强激光脉冲 甲烷团簇 内电离     

Non‐linear absorption of an intense laser pulse propagating in wiggler‐assisted underdense collisional plasma

In this article, the propagation of an intense laser pulse through underdense collisional plasma in the presence of planar magnetostatic wiggler is studied. It is shown that the electron density distribution, in the presence of planar wiggler with increasing of the normalized plasma length, increases initially and then reaches a peak for different values of wiggler amplitudes. In addition, it is found that the existence of wiggler field leads to an increase in the electron density distribution and subsequently enhancement of electric field. Moreover, it is observed that by increasing the wiggler field, as a result of the increase of the electron density distribution, the dielectric permittivity constant is reduced. It is seen that while wiggler magnetic field was applied appropriately, the total absorption coefficient in the underdense collisional isothermal magnetized plasma improves. In fact, increase of wiggler magnetic field causes the enhancement of the total absorption coefficient of plasma medium.     

飞秒强激光脉冲在等离子体中的自压缩

文章从激光等离子体相互作用的非线性薛定谔方程出发,理论研究了飞秒强激光脉冲在等离子体中的自压缩行为.结果表明在一定范围内随着激光脉冲宽度、激光强度的增大以及等离子体密度的减小,飞秒强激光脉冲在等离子体中传播的自压缩现象越明显.另外通过适当设定参量得到了近似稳定传播的基孤子.     

近共振区超短强激光脉冲激发的等离子体尾波场

用一维相对论粒子模拟研究了相对论超短强激光脉冲在等离子体中传播时激发的尾波场,初步获得了近共振区尾波场的峰值幅度随激光脉冲宽度变化的特点,发现在近共振区等离子体波激发出现增强。通过准静态近似下尾波激发的一维非线性方程数值求解,并与粒子模拟结果比较,得到了该非线性方程的适用范围：当激光脉冲宽度小于等离子体波波长的4倍时,该方程所得结果与粒子模拟结果一致;而当激光脉冲宽度大于该数值时,该方程不再适用。