Abstract
Infrared spectroscopy, ultra-fast x-ray high harmonic generation, and time-resolved imaging of molecular structures benefit from the availability of intense mid-infrared wavelength pulses. Here we present a new approach to generating these, in which an intense short laser pulse is incident upon a near-critical density, spherical, mass-limited carbon target. After the laser pulse interaction, the carbon ions produced form a central force field. Plasma electrons accelerated by the laser return to the positively charged carbon target under the action of this field. The energy of these electrons is reduced and is lower than their energy in the laser field. These low-energy refluxing electrons start to oscillate with a rotating figure-of-eight motion around the positively charged carbon target and emit relativistically intense mid-infrared pulses with the wavelength in the range 1 to 4 μm.
Highlights
Significant progress has been made in obtaining high-quality mid-wavelength infrared (MWIR) sources in recent decades, which has opened new avenues of research in the field of laser-matter interactions
These high-quality sources are important for a broad range of applications in ultrafast physics, chemistry, biology and materials science, including infrared spectroscopy [1], ultra-fast x-ray high harmonic generation [2, 3], time-resolved imaging of molecular structures [4, 5], attosecond pulse radiation [6] and filamentation [7]
For example, it has been demonstrated that infrared pulses with wavelength from 5 to 14 μm can be obtained by utilizing asymmetric self-phase modulation produced by a wake in a tailored plasma density structure, such that the pump laser pulse continuously downshifts in frequency [18]
Summary
Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI. J F Qu1,2, P Liu1, X Y Liu1,3, R J Gray2, P McKenna2 , X F Li4,5,6,8 , S Kawata7 and Q Kong1,8 Keywords: mid-wavelength infrared radiation, mass-limited target, relativistic laser, plasma
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