Efficient generation of tunable magnetic and optical vortices using plasmas

Abstract

Plasma is an attractive medium for generating strong microscopic magnetic structures and tunable electromagnetic radiation with predictable topologies due to its extraordinary ability to sustain and manipulate high currents and strong fields. Here, using theory and simulations, we show efficient generation of multimegagauss magnetic and tunable optical vortices when a sharp relativistic ionization front (IF) passes through a relatively long wavelength Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) laser pulse with orbital angular momentum (OAM). The optical vortex is frequency upshifted within a wide spectral range simply by changing the plasma density and is compressed in duration. The topological charges of both vortices can be manipulated by controlling the OAM mode of the incident LG laser and/or by controlling the topology and density of the IF. For relatively high (low) plasma densities, most of the energy of the incident LG laser pulse is converted into the magnetic (optical) vortex, with conversion efficiency approaching ∼90% for an ideal IF.Received 13 April 2022Revised 11 August 2022Accepted 2 January 2023DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.5.L012011Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.Published by the American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasLaser-plasma interactionsMagnetic field generation & plasma dynamoOptical vorticesX-ray generation in plasmasPlasma PhysicsAccelerators & BeamsAtomic, Molecular & Optical