Phase modulation of intense ultrashort laser pulses reflected from steep, dense plasmas

The phase modulation of intense ( I = 10(18) W/cm(2)) ultrashort laser pulses ( tau(p) = 70 fs) after reflection from steep, dense plasmas has been temporally resolved for the first time in particle-in-cell simulations. The position of the turning point from where the pulse reflects has been compared to the phase modulation, over a range of angles of incidence. At normal incidence or s polarization the phase modulation almost exactly represents the movement of the turning point due to the light pressure. As the angle of incidence is increased for p polarization, the simple Fresnel relationship between phase modulation and displacement of the reflection position, Delta phi(t) = -2k(0)Delta x(t)cos theta(0), increasingly breaks down.     

Electron-lattice kinetics of metals heated by ultrashort laser pulses

We propose a kinetic model of transient nonequilibrium phenomena in metals exposed to ultrashort laser pulses when heated electrons affect the lattice through direct electron-phonon interaction. This model describes the destruction of a metal under intense laser pumping. We derive the system of equations for the metal, which consists of hot electrons and a cold lattice. Hot electrons are described with the help of the Boltzmann equation and equation of thermoconductivity. We use the equations of motion for lattice displacements with the electron force included. The lattice deformation is estimated immediately after the laser pulse up to the time of electron temperature relaxation. An estimate shows that the ablation regime can be achieved. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 115, 149–157 (January 1999) Published in English in the original Russian journal. Reproduced here with stylistic changes by the Translation Editor.     

Chirping and spreading of ultrashort laser pulses in underdense plasmas

A linear theory on the propagation of ultrashort pulses including only a few cycles in underdense plasmas is presented. It is shown that the dispersion in plasmas causes severe distortions in the pulse shape, including pulse chirping and spreading. The analytical calculations coincide very well with those obtained by particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. The upper limit of the peak amplitude of the pulses, above which the linear theory breaks down due to the setting in of nonlinear effects of both the relativistic electron-mass increase and ponderomotive force, is also examined by PIC simulations. At certain high amplitudes, it is found that the ultrashort laser pulses can propagate like solitons.     

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.     

X-ray spectra of plasmas created with ultrashort laser pulses

The results are presented on the observation of X-ray spectra of plasmas formed by 250-psec laser pulses focusing on Ti, Fe and Cr targets. Specific characteristics of the spectra obtained are explained on the basis of a transient heating model.     

One-dimensional EM solitons in ultrashort intense laser pulse-partially stripped plasmas

The one-dimensional electromagnetic (EM) envelope solitons in ultrashort intense laser pulse-partially stripped plasmas were discussed based on the wave equation of intense laser pulse propagating in partially stripped plasmas. Under the weakly relativistic assumption, a modified nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation describing the evolution of the EM field was derived. The analytical analysis shows that in the ultra-short broad beam limits, the relativistic nonlinearity and striction nonlinearity cancel each other, and a one-dimensional laser pulse envelope soliton can be formed only due to the polarization nonlinearity. The relationship between the characteristics of soliton and the parameters of laser pulse and partially stripped plasmas was discussed by numerical analysis.     

Visualizing recurrently migrating hydrogen in acetylene dication by intense ultrashort laser pulses

We demonstrate the visualization of ultrafast hydrogen migration in deuterated acetylene dication (C2D2{2+}) by employing the pump-probe Coulomb explosion imaging with sub-10-fs intense laser pulses (9 fs, 0.13 PW/cm{2}, 800 nm). It is shown, from the temporal evolution of the momenta of the fragment ions produced by the three-body explosion, C2D2{3+}-->D{+} + C{+} + CD{+}, that the migration proceeds in a recurrent manner: the deuterium atom first shifts from one carbon site to the other in a short time scale (approximately 90 fs) and then migrates back to the original carbon site by 280 fs, in competition with the molecular dissociation.     

Magnetic-dipole vortex generation by propagation of ultraintense and ultrashort laser pulses in moderate-density plasmas

A magnetic-dipole vortex is generated in the behind of an ultraintense and ultrashort laser pulse in a near critical density plasma. The vortex is self-sustained by its magnetic field pressure which expels background electrons, and resulting sheath field accelerates electrons to drive high amplitude electric current inside the vortex. The electron energy spectra shows nonthermal distribution with relatively high energy. The vortex is stable for a long period since it is in the electromagnetic equilibrium, whose structure and characteristics are explained by a simple analytical model.     

X-ray spectra from highly ionized dense plasmas produced by ultrashort laser pulses

Hydrogen-like and helium-like X-ray spectra (between 7.1 and 8.2 , i.e., 1500 to 17.50 eV, respectively) from solid aluminium targets irradiated with high intensity (up to 10¹⁷ W/cm²) subpicosecond (0.7 ps) laser pulses have been measured. The spectra show that the resonance lines are very broad and very asymmetric. Evidence for a Doppler-shifted reabsorption of the resonance line emission has been found. The spectra have been simulated by a computer code for the calculation of spectral-line intensities and linewidths. Electron densities exceeding the critical density have been estimated for different laser intensities by comparing the observed and simulated intensity ratio of different dielectronic satellite lines. From the X-ray spectra generated byp- ands-polarized radiation fat different laser intensities, the thresholds for the formation of hydrogen-like and helium-like ions have been determined.     

Controlling Rydberg excitation process with shaped intense ultrashort laser pulses

We perform a theoretical investigation on the control over the atomic excitation of Rydberg states with shaped intense ultrashort laser pulses. By numerically solving the time-dependent Schr?dinger equation(TDSE), we systematically study the dependence of the population of the Rydberg states on the π phase step position in the frequency spectra of the laser pulse for different intensities, central wavelengths and pulse durations. Our results show that the Rydberg excitation process can be effectively modulated using shaped intense laser pulses with the laser intensity as high as 1 × 10~(14) W/cm~2. Our work also have benefit to the future investigation to find out the dominant mechanism behind the excitation of Rydberg states in strong laser fields.     

Formation of ground-state vibrational wave packets in intense ultrashort laser pulses

The formation of coherent vibrational wave packets in the electronic ground state of neutral molecules in intense ultrashort laser pulses and their subsequent detection by means of recently developed pump-probe experiments are discussed. The wave packet formation is due to the pronounced dependence of the strong-field ionization rate on the internuclear distance. This leads to a deformation of the initial wave function due to an internuclear-distance dependent depletion. The phenomenon is demonstrated with a time-dependent wave packet study for molecular hydrogen.     

Symmetric fragmentation of polyatomic molecular ions in ultrashort intense laser pulses

The intense field-ionization behavior of linear homonuclear polyatomic molecular ions has been numerically investigated for different molecular configurations. The enhanced ionization effect of molecular ions is found as a general feature in a critical bond length range, but the enhancement degree of ionization is bond-selective. The more symmetric the molecular ion stretches, the more enhanced the ionization of the molecular ion. It implies that the symmetric fragmentation of linear molecular ions is most probable at moderate laser intensity. These results are explained in terms of the field-induced over-barrier ionization mechanism.     

Electron acceleration and the propagation of ultrashort high-intensity laser pulses in plasmas

Reported are interactions of high-intensity laser pulses ( lambda = 810 nm and I相似文献   

激光脉冲诱导的等离子体密度调制及其产生的相位反射

理论研究和数值模拟发现入射光和反射光在低密度等离子体中形成的干涉场可以产生深度的等离子体密度调制. 对于中等强度的入射光，譬如10¹⁵W／cm² ，产生密度调制的时间尺度在几十个光周期的范围. 这样的等离子体密度调制可以起类似布拉格反射镜的 作用，使得后面的入射光在临界面以下的区域产生相位反射. 因为密度调制的周期是光在等 离子体中波长的一半，其产生的反射率可以接近100％. 相位反射也可以在不均匀的低密度 等离子体中产生，它可以极大地减少等离子体对光的吸收，因此在惯性约束核聚变中需要考 虑到它的影响. 关键词： 相位反射 密度调制 激光等离子体 粒子模拟