Solitons in relativistic laser-plasma interactions

Single or/and multipeak solitons in plasma under relativistic electromagnetic field are reviewed. The incident electromagnetic field is allowed to have a zero or/and nonzero initial constant amplitude. Some interesting numerical results are obtained that include a high-number multipeak laser pulse and single or/and low-number multipeak plasma wake structures. It is also shown that there exists a combination of soliton and oscillation waves for plasma wake field. Also, the electron density exhibits multi-caviton structure or the combination of caviton and oscillation. A complete eigenvalue spectrum of parameters is given wherein some higher peak numbers of multipeak electromagnetic solitons in the plasma are included. Moreover, some interesting scaling laws are presented for field energy via numerical approaches. Some implications of results are discussed.      

Electro-optic shocks from ultraintense laser-plasma interactions

Second harmonic radiation in the form of an electro-optic shock is produced in the blowout regime of a laser wakefield in a plasma. The shock is produced by the interaction between the laser field and the electron sheath surrounding the electron cavitation region. Because the sheath is thin, phase matching is unimportant, and the radiated energy grows secularly with the interaction length. The angle of emission is given by the Cherenkov angle associated with the ratio of the second harmonic phase velocity to the fundamental phase velocity. The shock formation is investigated in three dimensions via analysis and particle-in-cell simulations.     

On self-induced transparency in laser-plasma interactions

We study fully relativistic nonlinear one-dimensional equations describing steady-state solutions for an electromagnetic wave interacting with a plasma in the self-induced transparency regime. In addition to the well-known solution that corresponds to the transmission of the electromagnetic wave into plasma, another steady-state solution is shown to exist in a certain range of amplitudes of the wave. The latter solution corresponds to total reflection of the incident wave. The coexistence of the two solutions indicates the possibility of hysteretic behavior in the self-induced transparency. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 70, No. 7, 445–450 (10 October 1999) Published in English in the original Russian journal. Edited by Steve Torstveit.     

Proton shock acceleration in laser-plasma interactions

The formation of strong, high Mach number (2-3), electrostatic shocks by laser pulses incident on overdense plasma slabs is observed in one- and two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, for a wide range of intensities, pulse durations, target thicknesses, and densities. The shocks propagate undisturbed across the plasma, accelerating the ions (protons). For a dimensionless field strength parameter a(0)=16 (Ilambda(2) approximately 3 x 10(20) W cm(-2) microm(2), where I is the intensity and lambda the wavelength), and target thicknesses of a few microns, the shock is responsible for the highest energy protons. A plateau in the ion spectrum provides a direct signature for shock acceleration.     

Anomalous magnetic field reversal in laser-plasma interactions

Two-dimensional numerical results are presented for laser produced carbon plasmas evolving through the formation of the critical surface. These results show a novel reversal of the spontaneously generated magnetic field.     

利用韧致辐射诊断激光等离子体相互作用产生的超热电子

超短脉冲强激光与等离子体相互作用时产生的向靶内传输的超热电子在“快点火”方案中起着极其重要的作用.对于这部分向靶内传输的超热电子，韧致辐射方法是一种能有效、全面获得超热电子各方面信息的诊断方法.通过三维蒙特卡罗程序MCNP模拟了超热电子在靶材料中的输运以及它们在靶后方向产生的韧致辐射的性质，论证了韧致辐射诊断方法的可行性. 关键词： 超热电子 韧致辐射 诊断 MCNP程序     

A ponderomotive guiding center particle-in-cell code for efficientmodeling of laser-plasma interactions

A novel particle simulation code is described that self-consistently models certain classes of laser-plasma interactions without resolving the optical cycles of the laser. This is accomplished by separating the electromagnetic field into a laser component and a wake component. Although the wake component is treated as in a fully explicit particle-in-cell (PIC) code, the laser component is treated in the high-frequency limit, which allows the optical cycles to be averaged out. This leads to enormous reductions in computer time when the laser frequency is much greater than all other frequencies of interest. This work is an extension of the work of Mora and Antonsen, Jr. (1996 and 1997), who derived the time-averaged equations coupling the laser with the particles and developed a code to solve these equations in the quasi-static limit. The code presented is distinguished by the fact that it is useful when the plasma length is much less than the laser pulse length. Also, it is already parallelized and should be straightforward to extend to three dimensions     

High power terahertz pulses generated in intense laser-plasma interactions

Terahertz (THz) radiation has attracted much attention due to its wide potential applications. Though radiation can be generated with various ways, it is still a big challenge to obtain strong tabletop sources. Plasma, with the advantage of no damage limit, is a promising medium to generate strong THz radiation. This review reports recent advances on strong THz radiation generation from low-density gases and high-density solid targets at different laser intensities.     

第四讲 超强激光脉冲与等离子体相互作用中高能离子的产生

近几年来，由于高功率激光技术的不断发展，利用超强激光脉冲与等离子体相互作用产生高能离子束的研究得到了极大推动．实验和理论模拟均发现，在超强激光脉冲与等离子体相互作用过程中，可以产生高亮度、小尺寸、方向性好的高能质子束和高能重离子束．这种基于超强激光的高能离子源在先进离子束成像技术、惯性约束聚变混合“快点火”、新型台面离子加速器以及医疗等方面都有很诱人的应用前景．文章主要介绍了超强激光与固体靶相互作用中高能离子束（尤其是质子束）的加速机制、高能离子束特性、常用测量方法及其潜在应用，并对最新的研究进展进行了简单介绍．     

Plasma modulation of harmonic emission spectra from laser-plasma interactions

We report results from particle-in-cell simulations of the interaction of intense laser light with overdense plasma designed to examine the effects of plasma waves generated by pulses of fast electrons on high-order harmonic emission from the plasma. We show that the emission spectrum is modulated at the plasma frequency and identify combinations of parameters and circumstances favorable for modulation. In particular, the observed modulation is shown to depend not only on the chosen plasma electron density and intensity of the incident light but on the density profile and pulse shape.     

Nonlinear spectral broadening of backscattered light from laser-plasma interactions

A qualitative model is given, which predicts nonlinear broadening of the spectrum of laser light anomalously reflected by a plasma. The predicted nonlinear broadening compares favourably with recent experimental results.     

Characterization of preformed plasmas with an interferometer for ultra-short high-intensity laser-plasma interactions

The evolution of an Al preformed plasma produced by a prepulse was observed before and after the arrival of the main pulse by an interferometer using a femtosecond probe pulse. A central density depression due to the ponderomotive force of the main laser pulse in the preformed plasma with a 100 m scale length was clearly visible after the main pulse irradiation at an intensity of 5×10¹⁶ W/cm². The temporal profiles of the prepulse, characterized by a cross-correlation in conjunction with a precise density profile measurement by an interferometer, contribute to the better understanding of femtosecond laser-matter interactions. PACS 52.38.-r; 52.50.Jm; 52.70.-m     

Anomalies in universal intensity scaling in ultrarelativistic laser-plasma interactions

Laser light incident on targets at intensities such that the electron dynamics is ultrarelativistic gives rise to a harmonic power spectrum extending to high orders and characterized by a relatively slow decay with the harmonic number m that follows a power law dependence, m(-p). Relativistic similarity theory predicts a universal value for p=8/3 up to some cutoff m=m*. The results presented in this Letter suggest that under conditions in which plasma effects contribute to the emission spectrum, the extent of this contribution may invalidate the concept of universal decay. We report a decay with the harmonic number in the ultrarelativistic range characterized by an index 5/3 < or approximately p < or approximately 7/3, significantly weaker than that predicted by the similarity model.     

Generation of collimated beams of relativistic ions in laser-plasma interactions

A method is proposed for generating collimated beams of fast ions in laser-plasma interactions. Two-dimensional and three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that the ponderomotive force expels electrons from the plasma region irradiated by a laser pulse. The ions with unneutralized electric charge that remain in this region are accelerated by Coulomb repulsive forces. The ions are focused by tailoring the target and also as a result of pinching in the magnetic field produced by the electric current of fast ions.