Laser Beam In Inhomogeneous Plasma Research Articles

Second-harmonic generation of hollow Gaussian laser beams in inhomogeneous plasmas in the presence of wiggler magnetic field

Second-harmonic generation of hollow Gaussian laser beams (HGLBs) in inhomogeneous plasmas is investigated in the presence of an external wiggler magnetic field. The wiggler magnetic field and electric field of the laser pulse exert a ponderomotive force on electrons deriving electron velocity. Electron velocity, wiggler magnetic field and magnetic field of the laser pulse beat to exert a nonlinear ponderomotive force on electrons at the second-harmonic frequency. The nonlinear ponderomotive force can derive a nonlinear current density. Using linear and nonlinear current densities and wave equation in cylindrical coordinates, two equations obtaining different components of the electric field of second-harmonic wave (SHW) are derived. Results indicate that by increasing the external wiggler magnetic field, order of HGLB, rippled electron density, rippled wave number and initial intensity of the laser pulse, the amplitude of the excited SHW increases. Finally, it is found that by decreasing the initial width of the laser beam, the amplitude of SHW increases, attains a maximum and then decreases.

Crossed beam energy transfer between optically smoothed laser beams in inhomogeneous plasmas.

Crossed beam energy transfer, CBET, in high-intensity laser–plasma interaction is investigated for the case of optically smoothed laser beams. In the two approaches to laser-driven inertial confinement fusion experiments, the direct-drive and the indirect-drive, CBET is of great importance because it governs the coupling of laser energy to the plasma. We use the two-dimensional wave-coupling code Harmony to simulate the transfer between two laser beams with speckle structure that overlap in a plasma with an inhomogeneous flow profile. We compare the CBET dynamics for laser beams with spatial incoherence and with spatio-temporal incoherence; in particular we apply the smoothing techniques using random phase plates (RPPs) and smoothing by spectral dispersion (SSD), respectively. It is found that for laser beams (wavelength λ0) with intensities (IL) above IL ∼ 2 × 1015 W cm−2(λ0/0.35 µm)−2(Te/keV), both the so-called plasma-induced smoothing as well as self-focusing in intense laser speckles induce temporal incoherence; the latter affects the CBET and the angular distribution of the light transmitted behind the zone of beam overlap. For RPP-smoothed incident beams, the resulting band width of the transmitted light can already be of the same order as the effective band width of the SSD available at major laser facilities. We examine the conditions when spatio-temporal smoothing techniques become efficient for CBET.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Prospects for high gain inertial fusion energy (part 1)’.

Experimental Investigation of the Collective Raman Scattering of Multiple Laser Beams in Inhomogeneous Plasmas.

Experiments have been performed evidencing significant stimulated Raman sidescattering (SRS) at large angles from the density gradient. This was achieved in long scale-length high-temperature plasmas in which two beams couple to the same scattered electromagnetic wave further demonstrating for the first time this multiple-beam collective SRS interaction. The collective nature of the coupling and the amplification at large angles from the density gradient increase the global SRS losses and produce light scattered in novel directions out of the planes of incidence of the beams. These findings obtained in plasmas conditions relevant of inertial confinement fusion experiments similarly apply to the more complex geometry of these experiments where anomalously large levels of SRS were measured.

Relativistic Filamentation of Intense Laser Beam in Inhomogeneous Plasma

In the paper, relativistic filamentation of intense laser beam in inhomogeneous plasma is investigated based on the nonparaxial region theory. The results show that, relativistic nonlinearity plays a main role in beam filamentation, and plasma inhomogeneity further reinforces the beam filamentation. The combination effects of relativistic nonlinearity and plasma inhomogeneity can generate particularly intense and short pulse laser. However, plasma inhomogeneity leads to obvious filamentation instability.

Dynamics of optical caviton generation in a CW-seeded frequency shifted feedback cavity

We analyze the dynamics of soliton creation in a frequency-shifted feedback ring laser with injected continuous wave seed. We show that for an active cavity the soliton buildup time may be estimated analytically. The soliton emission from the CW-pumped laser is analogous to the generation of cavitons by the resonant absorption of laser beams in inhomogeneous plasmas. We study the dynamics of optical cavitons by means of perturbation theory and numerical simulations.

Focussing of low-power laser beams in inhomogeneous plasmas with linear dielectric constant variation

In this paper we consider the propagation of a low-power laser beam in an inhomogeneous plasma with a dielectric-constant variation which linearly decreases away from the interfacez=0. It has been shown that the inhomogeneity of the plasma may cause the laser beam to focus into a line, a situation which could be of importance in x-ray laser studies and also in the ablation halo of laser fusion pellets.