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

Abstract

Two-dimensional characteristics of propagation of the relativistic ultrashort laser pulse in a thin plasma layer have been studied. When the electron density is nearly equal to the critical density, some structures of the electron density are generated. As the laser pulse penetrates into the plasma layer, the structure changes from a wall-like to a bubble-like one. Moreover, it was found that the thin plasma layer is useful for reducing the pulse length of the incident laser as a non-linear optical material.