Optical guiding of elliptical laser beam in nonuniform plasma

Guiding of laser beam in plasma channel formed by short ionizing laser pulse is studied in this paper. When a delayed pulse propagates through this channel diffraction, refraction and self-phase modulation phenomena results which are not balanced resulting in increase/decrease in beam width. These are studied using direct Variational Technique. In this paper cross-focussing phenomena is not observed. Parameters like beam width and longitudinal-phase delay of elliptical laser beam are also studied. It has been observed that the propagation of semi-major axis and semi-minor axis of elliptical beam are independent leading to oscillating guided beam.     

Distribution regimes of intense laser beam in a self-consistent plasma channel

In the present work, we investigate the distributed regimes of an intense laser beam in a self-consistent plasma channel. As the intensity of the laser beam increases, the relativistic mass effect as well as the ponderomotive expulsion of electrons modifies the dielectric function of the medium due to which the medium exhibits nonlinearity. Based on Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin and paraxial ray theory, the steady-state solution of an intense, Gaussian electromagnetic beam is studied. A differential equation of the beamwidth parameter with the distance of propagation is derived, including the effects of relativistic self-focusing (SF) and ponderomotive self-channeling. The nature of propagation and radial dynamics of the beam in plasma depend on the power, width of the beam, and Ω _p, the ratio of plasma to wave frequency. For a given value of Ω _p (<1), the distribution regimes have been obtained in beampower–beamwidth plane, characterizing the regimes of propagation as steady divergence, oscillatory divergence, and SF. The related focusing parameters are optimized introducing plasma density ramp function, and spot size of the laser beam is analyzed for inhomogeneous plasma. This results in overcoming the diffraction and guiding the laser beam over long distance. Numerical computations are performed for typical parameters of relativistic laser–plasma interaction studies.     

Allowable propagation of short pulse laser beam in a plasma channel and electromagnetic solitary waves

Nonparaxial and nonlinear propagation of a short intense laser beam in a parabolic plasma channel is analyzed by means of the variational method and nonlinear dynamics. The beam propagation properties are classified by five kinds of behaviors. In particularly, the electromagnetic solitary wave for finite pulse laser is found beside the other four propagation cases including beam periodically oscillating with defocussing and focusing amplitude, constant spot size, beam catastrophic focusing. It is also found that the laser pulse can be allowed to propagate in the plasma channel only when a certain relation for laser parameters and plasma channel parameters is satisfied. For the solitary wave, it may provide an effective way to obtain ultra-short laser pulse.     

Non‐linear interaction of a q‐Gaussian laser beam in a plasma channel created by the ignitor‐heater technique

This paper presents a theoretical investigation of the propagation characteristics of a q‐Gaussian laser beam propagating through a plasma channel created by the ignitor‐heater technique. The ignitor beam creates the plasma by tunnel‐ionization of air. The heater beam heats the plasma electrons and establishes a parabolic channel. The third beam (q‐Gaussian beam) is guided in the plasma channel under the combined effects of density non‐uniformity and non‐uniform ohmic heating of the plasma channel. Numerical solutions of the non‐linear Schrodinger wave equation (NSWE) for the fields of laser beams are obtained with the help of the moment theory approach. Particular emphasis is placed on the dynamical variations of the spot size of the laser beams and the longitudinal phase shift of the guided beam with the distance of propagation.     

超短脉冲激光与微小水滴相互作用中电子密度和光场的时空分布

为了研究超短激光脉冲和液滴相互作用过程中电子密度和光场的变化,基于非线性麦克斯韦方程组和电离速率方程,构建了激光等离子体非线性瞬态时域耦合模型,对飞秒激光脉冲击穿微米量级水滴时的电子密度和光场的时空分布进行了计算.结果显示水滴的击穿阈值最小可达2 TW/cm~2,为同等条件下无边界水介质击穿阈值的1/4.随着脉冲能量增强,水滴内自由电子密度峰值区域逆着激光入射方向移动,且入射光越强,水滴对光传播的屏蔽越明显.光束在水滴出射端外部汇聚,汇聚点的光功率密度可达入射光的5倍,且时域波形出现压缩和变形.另外,水滴对激光能量的吸收系数随光强增大而增大,并最终趋于饱和.     

通道靶对超强激光加速质子束的聚焦效应

发散角过大是制约超强激光与固体靶相互作用加速产生高能质子束应用的一个重大物理难题.本文提出了一种结构化的通道靶型,与超强激光相互作用可提高质子束的发散特性,通道壁上产生的横向电荷分离静电场可对质子有效聚焦.采用二维particle-in-cell粒子模拟程序对激光通道靶相互作用过程进行了研究,分析了加速质子束的性能特点.模拟结果表明,与传统平面靶相比,通道靶可以在不过多损失能量的情况下产生具有更好准直性的质子束,尤其当通道靶的直径与激光焦斑尺寸和质子源尺寸相当时,横向静电场能够有效聚焦质子束,并且可保证相对较高的激光能量利用率.     

Nonlinear propagation of an intense Laguerre–Gaussian laser pulse in a plasma channel

The nonlinear propagation of an intense Laguerre–Gaussian(LG) laser pulse in a parabolic preformed plasma channel is analyzed by means of the variational method. The evolution equation of the spot size is derived including the effects of relativistic self-focusing, preformed channel focusing, and ponderomotive self-channeling. The parametric conditions of the LG laser pulse and plasma channel for propagating with constant spot size, periodically focusing and defocusing oscillation,catastrophic focusing, and solitary waves are obtained. Compared with the laser pulse with fundamental Gaussian(FG)mode, it is found that the effect of vacuum diffraction is reduced by half and the effects of relativistic and wakefield focusing are decreased by a quarter due to the hollow transverse intensity profile of the LG laser pulse, while the effect of channel focusing is the same order of magnitude with that of the FG laser pulse. Thus, the matched condition for the intense LG laser pulse with constant spot size is released obviously, while the parameters of the laser and plasma for the existence of solitary waves nearly coincide with those of the FG laser pulse.     

超短强激光脉冲在等离子体隧道中传输的理论与数值模拟研究

研究了超短强激光脉冲在非扰动抛物型部分电离的预等离子体隧道中的传输特性.从Maxwell方程出发得到了两个包含衍射、三阶强度非线性、等离子体散焦、等离子体隧道聚焦以及相对论自聚焦等效应在内的激光场演化方程，即折射率方程和哈密顿-雅可比方程.在此基础 上得到了激光在等离子体隧道中传输的包络方程以及光斑半径与传输距离、隧道宽度等初始 参量的关系. 关键词： 等离子体隧道聚焦 相对论自聚焦 势阱     

Compton散射下超强激光等离子体通道的演化

应用多光子非线性Compton散射模型、空间动态补偿模型、非线性薛定谔方程和数值模拟方法,研究了Compton散射对超强飞秒激光等离子体中通道的影响,提出了将Compton散射光作为形成等离子体通道的新机制,给出了超强飞秒激光脉冲在等离子体中传播和电子密度随时间变化的非线性修正方程,并进行了数值模拟.研究发现:散射使等离子体中电子密度峰值增大1个量级,半径增大1 mm.激光最大功率密度被限制在10~(18)W/m~2以下,随传输距离增大缓慢衰减.传输初始阶段,单脉冲衰减能量较散射前增大2%,之后衰减较平缓.通过增加超强飞秒激光脉冲输入功率,能有效地增加电子密度峰值,有利于等离子体通道的形成.并对所的结论给出了初步物理解释.     

Compton散射下超强激光等离子体通道的演化

应用多光子非线性Compton散射模型、空间动态补偿模型、非线性薛定谔方程和数值模拟方法,研究了Compton散射对超强飞秒激光等离子体中通道的影响,提出了将Compton散射光作为形成等离子体通道的新机制,给出了超强飞秒激光脉冲在等离子体中传播和电子密度随时间变化的非线性修正方程,并进行了数值模拟。并研究发现：散射使等离子体中电子密度峰值增大1个量级,半径增大1mm。激光最大功率密度被限制在1018W/m2以下,随传输距离增大缓慢衰减。传输初始阶段,单脉冲衰减能量较散射前增大2%,之后衰减较平缓。通过增加超强飞秒激光脉冲输入功率,能有效地增加电子密度峰值,有利于等离子体通道的形成。并对所的结论给出了初步物理解释。     

强激光大气传输中拉曼散射的数值计算

用经典理论推导了强激光大气传输中由于氮的转动受激Ｒａｎｍａｎ散射所造成的对传输功率的限制方程，并计算了光强的阈值，得到了阈光强与激光波长和脉宽的关系；此外，还研究了二维效应和激光脉冲系列通过大气时声子激发的累加效应。     

Machining of transparent materials using an IR and UV nanosecond pulsed laser

Channels are traditionally machined in materials by drilling from the front side into the bulk. The processing rate can be increased by two orders of magnitude for transparent materials by growing the channel from the rear side. The process is demonstrated using nanosecond laser pulses to drill millimeter-sized channels through thick silica windows. Absorbing defects are introduced onto the rear surface to initiate the coupling of energy into the material. Laser drilling then takes place when the fluence exceeds a threshold. The drilling rate increases linearly with fluence above this threshold. While UV light drills about four times faster than IR light, the pulse length (in the nanosecond regime) and the pulse repetition rate (in the 0.1–10 Hz range) do not greatly influence the drilling rate per pulse. Drilling rates in excess of 100 μm per pulse are achieved by taking advantage of the propagation characteristics of the plasma created at the drilling front. The plasma during rear-side drilling generates a laser-supported detonation wave into the bulk material. The geometry also seems to increase the efficiency of the laser-induced plasma combustion and shock wave during the pulse by confining it in front of the channel tip. Received: 1 July 1999 / Accepted: 17 April 2000 / Published online: 20 September 2000     

fs激光在靶背表面产生的质子束成丝

 介绍了利用3TW/60fs钛宝石超短超强激光与20μm铜薄膜靶相互作用的实验。实验观测到质子束的角分布随激光功率密度有所变化。在较高的功率密度（～1×10¹⁸ W/cm²）时，观测到环状的质子束分布，发散角较大。在较低的激光功率密度（～2×10¹⁷ W/cm²）时，质子束发散角减小，质子束出现成丝现象。质子束的角分布实际上反映了从靶前输运到靶背的超热电子电流横向分布。在输运过程中，由于Weibel不稳定性会使超热电子电流出现空心化并最后破裂成丝。     

空气中激光等离子通道的演变和控制

为精确再现超强飞秒脉冲激光在大气中的传输特性,有效控制激光诱导等离子体通道的性能参数,基于扩展的非线性薛定谔方程,研究了空气中产生的等离子通道的演变过程。该模型在考虑衍射、色散和多光子效应的基础上,引入了拉曼散射、等离子体尾波场和相对论自聚焦等多种效应。讨论了电子密度和光强通量的空间分布特性,运用分步傅里叶法和有限差分法得到了电子密度和光强通量的分布,仿真结果显示,激光波长、单脉冲能量、脉宽和束腰半径等初始参数的变化将对等离子体通道的演变产生显著影响,为超短脉冲强激光在大气中成丝位置和形态控制提供了可能的途径。     

Relativistic channel-coupling focusing enhanced nonlinear guiding of an intense laser beam in a plasma channel

We employ the variational method to study the optical guiding of an intense laser beam in a preformed plasma channel without using the weakly relativistic approximation. Apart from the dependence on the laser power and the nonlinear channel strength parameter, the beam focusing properties is shown also to be governed by the laser intensity. Relativistic channel-coupling focusing, arising from the coupling between relativistic self-focusing and linear channel focusing, can enhance relativistic self-focusing but its strength is weaker than that of linear channel focusing.     

Second harmonic generation of a self-focused Hermite-Gaussian laser in plasma

Second harmonic generation (SHG) using intense Hermite-Gaussian laser beam (HGLB) propagating through the plasma for mode-indices m = 0 and m = 1 is reported in the present work. Ponderomotive force induced density perturbation beats with the oscillatory velocity of electrons at incident laser frequency, generate the second harmonic nonlinear current that give rise to SHG. Using paraxial approximations, we have derived the coupled equations for the beam width parameter of HGLB and second harmonic's normalized amplitude. Resonance condition is obtained by considering wiggler magnetic field which providing an extra momentum to the second harmonic photon and this result a significant increase in the amplitude of SHG. Our analysis shows the prominent rise in normalized amplitude of second harmonic on increasing the value of the intensity of fundamental laser pulse, normalized wiggler magnetic field and normalized density of plasma. It is notified that the gain of SHG is more prominent for m = 1. Dependency of laser and plasma parameters on SHG is also reported in the current work.     

Near-GeV-energy laser-wakefield acceleration of self-injected electrons in a centimeter-scale plasma channel

The first three-dimensional, particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of laser-wakefield acceleration of self-injected electrons in a 0.84 cm long plasma channel are reported. The frequency evolution of the initially 50 fs (FWHM) long laser pulse by photon interaction with the wake followed by plasma dispersion enhances the wake which eventually leads to self-injection of electrons from the channel wall. This first bunch of electrons remains spatially highly localized. Its phase space rotation due to slippage with respect to the wake leads to a monoenergetic bunch of electrons with a central energy of 0.26 GeV after 0.55 cm propagation. At later times, spatial bunching of the laser enhances the acceleration of a second bunch of electrons to energies up to 0.84 GeV before the laser pulse intensity is significantly reduced.     

激光等离子体通道天线的电磁散射特性分析

激光等离子体通道天线被等效为电子在横向旋转、轴向漂移的均匀冷磁化等离子体束,且该等离子体束的横截面为沿轴向不改变的圆形。在考虑离心力、科里奥利力等惯性力的影响下,结合麦克斯韦方程和本构关系,得出了激光等离子体通道天线的散射场。为了简化,计算了一特例,发现了一些有趣的现象。     

Laser-hole boring into overdense plasmas measured with soft X-Ray laser probing

A laser self-focused channel formation into overdense plasmas was observed using a soft x-ray laser probe system with a grid image refractometry (GIR) technique. 1.053 &mgr;m laser light with a 100 ps pulse duration was focused onto a preformed plasma at an intensity of 2x10(17) W/cm (2). Cross sections of the channel were obtained which show a 30 &mgr;m diameter in overdense plasmas. The channel width in the overdense region was kept narrow as a result of self-focusing. Conically diverging density ridges were also observed along the channel, indicating a Mach cone created by a shock wave due to the supersonic propagation of the channel front.