Thomson scattering from ultrashort and ultraintense laser pulses

The Thomson scattering in an ultraintense ( approximately 10(18) W cm(-2)) and ultrashort (20 fs) laser field is calculated that demonstrates different characteristics from those of the low-intensity field case. The electron trajectory no longer conforms to a figure-eight pattern, and the spectra demonstrate complex shifting and broadening to suggest that Thomson scattering can be used for characterizing pulsed lasers. The initial phase at the electron entrance of the field can critically affect the Thomson scattering, but its effect is weighted by the intensity profile of the field. As a result, the fourfold symmetry of the radiation pattern breaks down when the electron enters the field closer to the pulse peak. The relationship between the Thomson scattering and Compton scattering in the high field is analyzed.     

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   

超短激光脉冲在等离子体中的分裂以及类孤子结构的形成

用一维粒子模拟研究了超短脉冲在等离子体中传播时产生的光孤子结构以及由此形成的脉冲分裂现象，比较了不同峰值强度和脉冲宽度对形成光孤子以及脉冲传播方式的影响.研究表明: 脉冲宽度在若干个到十几个振荡周期的超短脉冲在等离子体中可能形成高速传播的光孤子；脉冲宽度增加和强度增大两种方式都可以使得孤子结构的传播速度减慢,且由于高阶孤子的衰变使得初始激光脉冲在等离子体中发生分裂，形成两个以不同速度向前传播的孤子结构.由孤子阶数的理论计算可较好地预言激光脉冲在等离子体中分裂的子脉冲数. 关键词： 光孤子 超短激光脉冲 等离子体 粒子模拟     

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.     

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.     

Tunable second harmonic generation by phase-modulated ultrashort laser pulses

We report on the generation of tunable light around 400?nm by frequency-doubling ultrashort laser pulses whose spectral phase is modulated by a sum of sinusoidal functions. The linewidth of the ultraviolet band produced is narrower than 1?nm, in contrast to the 12?nm linewidth of the non-modulated incident spectrum. The influence of pixellation of the liquid crystal spatial light modulator on the efficiency of the phase-modulated second harmonic generation is discussed.     

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.     

Third harmonic generation by ultrashort laser pulses tightly focused in air

The influence of focusing conditions (numerical apertures from 0.004 to 0.06) on absolute energetic characteristics of third harmonic generation (THG) in air was experimentally studied for pumping 1R (744 nm wavelength) femtosecond laser pulses. THG was observed both for sub-critical and super-critical laser pulses in the linear and non-linear propagation modes, respectively. The maximum THG efficiency of 1.6 × 10⁻³ was obtained in our experiments at the tight focusing conditions and the sub-critical pulse powers.     

Attosecond burst and high-harmonic generation in molecular ionization by ultrashort laser pulses

It is shown that the efficiency of attosecond pulse and high-harmonic generation in the ionization of excited molecular structures by a powerful femtosecond optical pulse can appreciably exceed the efficiency of analogous processes in atomic systems. This is due to the presence of a delocalized electron wave-packet component in the nonequilibrium molecular states, resulting in an increase of the number of particles that are effectively involved in the bremsstrahlung generation in the course of recollisions of laser-accelerated electrons with molecular core. Calculations suggest that, by optimizing the nonlinear response of molecular systems in the ionization process, one can develop compact sources of coherent vacuum ultraviolet and X-ray radiation with luminance at a level that is presently achieved only at large-scale accelerator facilities with free-electron lasers.     

超短脉冲超强激光与固体靶相互作用中高能离子的产生

 用2D3V PIC粒子模拟方法得到了超短脉冲超强激光与固体靶相互作用中高能离子产生的图像，并对其机理进行了研究。在靶前后表面都观察到了高能离子的产生，并诊断了离子能谱。模拟结果表明，在靶前表面所产生的高能离子，角分布较大，在向靶内输运过程中会损失能量；在靶后表面产生的高能离子，定向性很好，能获得很高的能量。模拟得到的离子能量和实验观测结果在量级上相符。     

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     

超短脉冲超强激光与固体靶相互作用中高能离子的产生

用2D3V PIC粒子模拟方法得到了超短脉冲超强激光与固体靶相互作用中高能离子产生的图像,并对其机理进行了研究。在靶前后表面都观察到了高能离子的产生,并诊断了离子能谱。模拟结果表明,在靶前表面所产生的高能离子,角分布较大,在向靶内输运过程中会损失能量;在靶后表面产生的高能离子,定向性很好,能获得很高的能量。模拟得到的离子能量和实验观测结果在量级上相符。     

New laser crystals for the generation of ultrashort pulses

Since the beginning of the 1990s, titanium sapphire has become the crystal of choice for the development of ultrashort laser systems producing very short and powerful pulses using the Chirped Pulse Amplification technique. In parallel to these developments leading to commercial products, new laser crystals have been studied in order to reach directly other wavelength ranges and to overcome the need to develop cw or pulsed green laser to pump the titanium sapphire crystal. In order to be able to directly pump the crystals with a very efficient and high-power semiconductor laser, new crystals doped with chromium or ytterbium ions have been developed. This article will review the latest development in this research field with the best performances obtained in terms of pulse duration. To cite this article: F. Druon et al., C. R. Physique 8 (2007).     

Matched second-harmonic generation of ultrashort laser pulses in photonic crystals

It is shown that one-dimensional photonic bandgap structures are capable of simultaneously satisfying the phase and group-velocity matching conditions for second-harmonic generation involving extremely short light pulses. When these conditions are satisfied, an optical frequency doubler utilizing photonic bandgap structures provides a means for increasing the rate of growth of the second-harmonic signal as a function of the nonlinear-optical interaction length relative to structures designed for quasi-matched interactions and affords possibilities for enhancing the frequency doubling efficiencies independently of the matching length in the bulk nonlinear material. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 70, No. 12, 800–805 (25 December 1999)     

Moving focus in the propagation of ultrashort laser pulses in air

The long light filaments generated in air by powerful ultrashort laser pulses, previously attributed to self-channeling, were investigated by use of gigawatt pulses from a Ti:sapphire chirped-pulse-amplification laser system. A filament contained only a small fraction of the pulse energy and always ended at the diffraction length of the beam (~100 m), independently of the pulse energy. These features are explained by the moving-focus model, which is presented as an alternative to the self-channeling model. Computer simulations involving ionization of the air also support the moving-focus model.     

Quasimonoenergetic deuteron bursts produced by ultraintense laser pulses

We report on the generation and laser acceleration of bunches of energetic deuterons with a small energy spread at about 2 MeV. This quasimonoenergetic peak within the ion energy spectrum was observed when heavy-water microdroplets were irradiated with ultrashort laser pulses of about 40 fs duration and high (10(-8)) temporal contrast, at an intensity of 10(19) W/cm(2). The results can be explained by a simple physical model related to spatial separation of two ion species within a finite-volume target. The production of quasimonoenergetic ions is a long-standing goal in laser-particle acceleration; it could have diverse applications such as in medicine or in the development of future compact ion accelerators.     

Laser-generated ultrashort multimegagauss magnetic pulses in plasmas

We demonstrate ultrashort (6 ps), multimegagauss (27 MG) magnetic pulses generated upon interaction of an intense laser pulse (10(16) W cm(-2), 100 fs) with a solid target. The temporal evolution of these giant fields generated near the critical layer is obtained with the highest resolution reported thus far. Particle-in-cell simulations and phenomenological modeling is used to explain the results. The first direct observations of anomalously rapid damping of plasma shielding currents produced in response to the hot electron currents penetrating the bulk plasma are presented.