Propagation of a relativistic ultrashort laser pulse in a near-critical-density plasma layer

Abstract

Two-dimensional characteristics of propagation of a relativistic ultrashort laser pulse in a thin plasma layer with near-critical density have been studied. Although the critical density increases due to the relativistic effect, the incident laser pulse does not penetrate into overdense plasma because a high-density wall of electrons is generated in front of the laser pulse. It was found that the thin plasma layer is useful for reducing the pulse length of the incident laser as a nonlinear optical material.