Stimulated Raman scattering in a relativistic electron oscillation plasma

Received: 27 October 1995/Revised version: 25 September 1996     

Observation of the nonlinear effect in relativistic Thomson scattering of electron and laser beams

Thomson scattering of high-power laser and electron beams is a good test of electrodynamics in the high-field region. We demonstrated production of high-intensity X-rays in the head-on collision of a CO₂ laser and 60-MeV electron beams at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Accelerator Test Facility. The energy of an X-ray photon was limited at 6.5 keV in the linear (lowest order) Thomson scattering, but the nonlinear (higher order) process produces higher energy X-rays. We measured the angular distribution of the high-energy X-rays and confirmed that it agrees with theoretical predictions.     

New regime of fs-pulse stimulated Raman scattering

We present the results of experimental and theoretical studies of fs-pulse Raman-frequency conversion in gases in the regime of medium pumping with pulses shorter than the molecular vibrational period T_v. The spectral transformation of both intense excitation pulses and variably delayed injection pulses is analyzed as a function of laser parameters and gas pressure. For intense 40 fs pump pulses propagating in a SF₆-filled hollow waveguide, we observed a continuous (pressure-dependent) redshift of the carrier frequency, amounting to several thousand cm^у. By transmitting a weak injection pulse with a narrow spectrum through impulsively excited SF₆, we observed multiple Stokes and anti-Stokes lines of the injection radiation corresponding to scattering on the symmetric vibrational mode of SF₆. Since the pumping and scattering processes are decoupled in this delayed-pulse scheme, the effect of Kerr self-action on the injection field scattering was completely eliminated. Our physical model of the fs-pulse stimulated Raman scattering is in good quantitative agreement with the observed effects.     

Fluctuations in the nonlinear regime of stimulated Raman scattering

We investigate the distribution of Stokes pulse energies in the transient nonlinear regime of stimulated Raman scattering. Nonlinear effects lead to a stabilization of Stokes pulse energies. The character of the transition from the chaotic linear regime to the nonlinear regime is studied in detail. The results compare nicely with recent experiments of Walmsey and Raymer.     

Quasielastic electron scattering in relativistic mean-field theory

The density-dependent relativistic hadron (DDRH) field theory proposed recently is extended to investigate the longitudinal response function and the Coulomb sum rule in quasielastic electron scattering in the relativistic random phase approximation (RPA). The results in the DDRH model are compared with those in other models systematically. It is found that meson effective masses induced by the nonlinear terms in the nonlinear Walecka model should be used to obtain the meson Greens functions when the longitudinal response function and the Coulomb sum rule are calculated. The effects of the and mesons are clearly shown in quasielastic electron scattering, and the isospin-dependent attractive potential between nucleons due to the exchange of the -meson cancels the isospin-dependent repulsive contribution of the -meson to a certain extent. The obtained results in the DDRH model are in good agreement with experimental data except for the Coulomb sum rule in ²⁰⁸Pb.     

Driven spatially autoresonant stimulated Raman scattering in the kinetic regime

The autoresonant behavior of Langmuir waves excited by stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) is clearly identified in particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations in an inhomogeneous plasma. As previously shown via a 3-wave coupling model [T. Chapman et al., Phys. Plasmas 17, 122317 (2010)], weakly kinetic effects such as trapping can be described via an amplitude-dependent frequency shift that compensates the dephasing of the resonance of SRS due to the inhomogeneity. The autoresonance (AR) leads to phase locking and to growth of the Langmuir wave beyond the spatial amplification expected from Rosenbluth's model in an inhomogeneous profile [M. N. Rosenbluth, Phys. Rev. Lett. 29, 565 (1972)]. Results from PIC simulations and from a 3-wave coupling code show very good agreement, leading to the conclusion that AR arises even beyond the so-called weakly kinetic regime.     

Quasi-free electron scattering in a relativistic model of the nucleus

Longitudinal and transverse response functions of quasi-free electron scattering have been calculated in mean field approximation for a relativisticσ-ω model, including non-linearities in theσ-field. As a consequence of the completely consistent and fully relativistic treatment of wave functions and current operators, gauge invariance is perfectly satisfied throughout the calculation. The results indicate that models with the same nuclear bulk properties lead to similar response functions within 10%. Our results agree with the experimental data for¹²C and²³⁸U, but cannot describe the longitudinal response in the Ca-Fe region. Predictions for²⁰⁸Pb are given for comparison with future experiments.     

Conditions for the onset of superradiance regime in a relativistic electron bunch

Problems associated with the formation of coherent oscillations of an ensemble of classical oscillators and their superradiance instability are considered. The dispersion properties of an electron bunch and the conditions for the generation of nonequilibrium radiation are determined in the quasi-steady anharmonic oscillator approximation.     

Stimulated Raman scattering of gaussian laser beam in relativistic plasma

This paper presents an investigation of Stimulated Raman Scattering of gaussian laser beam in relativistic Plasma. The pump beam interacts with a pre-excited electron plasma wave and thereby generate a back-scattered wave. Due to intense laser beam, electron oscillatory velocity becomes comparable to the velocity of light, which modifies the background plasma density profile in a direction transverse to pump beam axis. The relativistic non-linearity due to increase in mass of the electrons effects the incident laser beam, electron plasma wave and back-scattered beam. We have set up the non-linear differential equations for the beam width parameters of the main beam, electron plasma wave, back-scattered wave and derived SRS back-reflectivity by taking full non-linear part of the dielectric constant of relativistic plasma with the help of moment theory approach. It is observed from the analysis that self-focusing of the pump beam greatly affects the SRS reflectivity, which plays a significant role in laser induced fusion.     

Polarization features of stimulated electron Raman scattering

An experimental investigation on polarization characteristics of stimulated electron Raman scattering in case of linear and circular polarization of exciting radiation has been undertaken. Theory and experiment are compared. Stark shifts for different components of SERS are determined.     

Observation of Raman conversion for 70-fs pulses in KGd(WO4)2 crystal in the regime of impulsive stimulated Raman scattering

Raman conversion of femtosecond pulses in a solid-state medium is reported. Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) was observed in an impulsive SRS regime when the pump pulse's duration was comparable with the period of Raman-active vibration. The generation of super broadband radiation, which is a distinguishing feature of impulsive SRS, is shown.     

Ion response to relativistic electron bunches in the blowout regime of laser-plasma accelerators

The ion response to relativistic electron bunches in the so called bubble or blowout regime of a laser-plasma accelerator is discussed. In response to the strong fields of the accelerated electrons the ions form a central filament along the laser axis that can be compressed to densities 2 orders of magnitude higher than the initial particle density. A theory of the filament formation and a model of ion self-compression are proposed. It is also shown that in the case of a sharp rear plasma-vacuum interface the ions can be accelerated by a combination of three basic mechanisms. The long time ion evolution that results from the strong electrostatic fields of an electron bunch provides a unique diagnostic of laser-plasma accelerators.     

Observation of the second harmonic in Thomson scattering from relativistic electrons

A free relativistic electron in an electromagnetic field is a pure case of a light-matter interaction. In the laboratory environment, this interaction can be realized by colliding laser pulses with electron beams produced from particle accelerators. The process of single photon absorption and reemission by the electron, so-called linear Thomson scattering, results in radiation that is Doppler shifted into the x-ray and gamma-ray regions. At elevated laser intensity, nonlinear effects should come into play when the transverse motion of the electrons induced by the laser beam is relativistic. In the present experiment, we achieved this condition and characterized the second harmonic of Thomson x-ray scattering using the counterpropagation of a 60 MeV electron beam and a subterawatt CO2 laser beam.     

Study of the competition between forward and backward stimulated Raman scattering in methane

Simultaneous forward and backward stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) in methane pumped by a single longitudinal mode Nd:YAG laser at 355 nm has been investigated both experimentally and numerically. For forward SRS, a maximum energy-conversion efficiency of 55% was obtained under 24 atm, while for backward SRS the corresponding figure was 58% under 4.7 atm. Under low pressures or at low pump energies, the conversion efficiency for backward SRS was found to be much higher than that for forward SRS, while the situation is quite the contrary under high pressures and at high pump energies. A quasi-two-dimensional numerical model is introduced to elucidate the competition between forward and backward SRS; we conclude that the high-pressure and high-pump-energy experimental results should be caused by the thermal defocusing effect in the SRS process. This is confirmed by the experimental fact that a decrease of the pulse-repetition rate increases the conversion efficiency for backward SRS but decreases that for forward SRS under high pressures. Our calculated results are in good agreement with the experimental results at a pulse-repetition rate of 2 Hz. PACS 42.55.Ye; 42.65.Dr; 42.65.Es     

Raman scattering by electron and phonon excitations in FeSi

The temperature evolution of Raman scattering by electron and phonon excitations in FeSi is studied within the range of 10–500 K. At low temperatures, the frequency dependence for the spectra of light scattered by electrons exhibits vanishing intensity in the range up to 500–600 cm^–1, which suggests the existence of an energy gap of about 70 meV. The calculations of the electronic excitation spectra based on the band structure determined using the LDA+DMFT technique (local electron density + dynamic mean field approximation) are in good agreement with the low-temperature experimental data and confirm that FeSi is a material with intermediate electron correlations. The changes in the shape of the electronic excitation spectrum and in the self-energy of optical phonons indicate a transition to the metallic state above 100 K. The analysis of experimental data demonstrates an appreciable decrease in the electron lifetime with the growth of temperature determining the (insulator–poor metal) transition.     

关联电子体系中电子和磁的拉曼散射

周期结构的晶格振动和分子的振动或转动谱,可以看作材料的特征指纹,拉曼散射正是探测这些振动的非常灵敏和有效的技术,因此它已经被广泛地应用到基础研究和工业生产的各个方面.而原则上,通过固体中的自由载流子或自旋与光的非弹性散射过程,人们也可以获得关于电子和磁激发的重要信息.文章对电子和磁的拉曼散射基本概念作了简要介绍,并对一些关联电子体系中的拉曼实验作了简要综述.特别是在非常规超导中,拉曼散射在确定超导能隙的大小和各向异性以及配对对称性等方面发挥了独特的作用.