Pulse In Plasma Research Articles

Ultra-intense laser field amplification from a petawatt-class laser focusing in moderate density plasma.

The rapid development of laser technologies promises a significant growth of peak laser intensity from 1022 W/cm2 to >1023 W/cm2, allowing the experimental studies of strong field quantum-electrodynamics physics and laser nuclear physics. Here, we propose a method to realize the ultra-intense laser field amplification of petawatt-class laser pulse in moderate density plasma via relativistic self-focusing and tapered-channel focusing. Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations demonstrate that almost an order of magnitude enhancement of laser intensity is possible even though the γ-ray radiation results in massive laser energy loss. In particular, with a seed laser intensity of ∼1023 W/cm2, duration of 82.5 fs and power of 31 petawatt, one can obtain ∼1024 W/cm2 intensity and up to ∼60% energy conversion efficiency from the initial seed laser to the focused laser in plasma with density of 3.3 × 1022/cm3. This may pave the way to the new research field of ultra-intense laser plasma interaction in the upcoming laser facilities.

On dynamical behavior for optical solitons sustained by the perturbed Chen–Lee–Liu model

This study investigates the perturbed Chen–Lee–Liu model that represents the propagation of an optical pulse in plasma and optical fiber. The generalized exponential rational function method is used for this purpose. As a result, we obtain some non-trivial solutions such as the optical singular, periodic, hyperbolic, exponential, trigonometric soliton solutions. We aim to express the pulse propagation of the generated solutions, by taking specific values for the free parameters existed in the obtained solutions. The obtained results show that the generalized exponential rational function technique is applicable, simple and effective to get the solutions of nonlinear engineering and physical problems. Moreover, the acquired solutions display rich dynamical evolutions that are important in practical applications.

Combined Effect of Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Laser Pulse on Electron Acceleration in Relativistic Plasma

This article presents the spatial and temporal dynamics of high-power Gaussian laser pulse in relativistic plasma. At higher intensities, the self-focusing and self-compression of laser pulse take place due to the variation in the mass of plasma electrons moving with speed comparable to the speed of light. The two non-linear coupled differential equations for spatial and temporal pulsewidth parameters have been obtained using the moment theory approach. These equations have been solved numerically using the Runga-Kutta method. The variation in the spatial and temporal pulsewidth parameters with the distance of propagation is then used to calculate the energy gained by the electrons, which are trapped by the excited electron plasma wave during laser-plasma interaction. It is observed that spatio-temporal dynamics play an important role in electron acceleration in relativistic plasma.

Propagation characteristics of relativistic ultrashort laser pulse in inhomogeneous plasma

We study the propagation of a relativistic ultrashort laser pulse in two-dimensional inhomogeneous plasma with a density ripple based on the theoretical analysis and the particle-in-cell simulation. An analytical solution of the laser pulse propagating in the homogeneous plasma is completely obtained. It is found that the stable propagation of the relativistic ultrashort laser pulse in homogeneous plasma can be realized, and the propagation distance and intensity of the laser pulse and the spatial distribution of electron density can be effectively modulated by adjusting the pulsewidth of the incident laser and the plasma frequency. More interestingly, in the inhomogeneous plasma with a density ripple, when the wave amplitude of the density ripple is less than a critical value, the intensity of the ultrashort laser pulse is almost unchanged and the propagation characteristics of the laser in the inhomogeneous plasma are basically consistent with those in the homogeneous plasma. However, when the wave amplitude of the density ripple is larger than the critical value, the inhomogeneity of the plasma has an obvious effect on the laser characteristics, and the intensity and the spatial distribution of the laser pulse will be modulated by the plasma density ripple. The influence of the laser pulsewidth, plasma density, and plasma density ripple on the laser characteristics is discussed in detail.

Super-resonant four-photon collinear laser frequency multiplication in plasma.

Resonant four-photon scattering could nearly double frequencies of intense laser pulses in plasma. However, transverse slippage between pulses presents a technological challenge, while collinear four-photon scattering is forbidden for classical light dispersion in plasma. Nonlinear renormalization of intense laser pulses can enable collinear four-photon resonance. However, such a very intensity-sensitive resonance is difficult to maintain for evolving pulses. Remarkably, there is a lower-dimensionality submanifold of the resonant four-photon manifold where the evolving pulses stay in resonance. This could enable an all-optical frequency doubling of mildly relativistic-intense laser pulses in collinear geometry, advantageously free of the transverse slippage challenges.

Theoretical Study of the Efficient Ion Acceleration Driven by Petawatt-Class Lasers via Stable Radiation Pressure Acceleration

Laser-driven radiation pressure acceleration (RPA) is one of the most promising candidates to achieve quasi-monoenergetic ion beams. In particular, many petawatt systems are under construction or in the planning phase. Here, a stable radiation pressure acceleration (SRPA) scheme is investigated, in which a circularly-polarized (CP) laser pulse illuminates a CH2 thin foil followed by a large-scale near-critical-density (NCD) plasma. In the laser-foil interaction, a longitudinal charge-separated electric field is excited to accelerate ions together with the heating of electrons. The heating can be alleviated by the continuous replenishment of cold electrons of the NCD plasma as the laser pulse and the pre-accelerated ions enter into the NCD plasma. With the relativistically transparent propagation of the pulse in the NCD plasma, the accelerating field with large amplitude is persistent, and its propagating speed becomes relatively low, which further accelerates the pre-accelerated ions. Our particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation shows that the SRPA scheme works efficiently with the laser intensity ranging from 6.85×1021 W cm−2 to 4.38×1023 W cm−2, e.g., a well-collimated quasi-monoenergetic proton beam with peak energy ∼1.2 GeV can be generated by a 2.74 × 1022 W cm−2 pulse, and the energy conversion efficiency from the laser pulse to the proton beam is about 16%. The QED effects have slight influence on this SRPA scheme.

Carrier-Envelope-Phase-Controlled Acceleration of Multicolored Attosecond Electron Bunches in a Millijoule-Laser-Driven Wakefield

Multicolor attosecond electron bunches with tens of megaelectronvolts energy are extremely useful for wide applications, such as multicolor x-ray generation. Here we propose a scheme to generate such electron bunches with a laser wakefield accelerator driven by a millijoule few-cycle laser pulse via carrier-envelope-phase (CEP)-controlled ionization injection. It is found that the rapid CEP shift of the driving pulse in plasma due to plasma dispersion and Gouy phase shift enables the inner shell electrons of background high-$Z$ ions to be ionized periodically. These electrons are then subsequently injected into the wakefield, where each injection lasts for a distance of a few micrometers only, leading to the generation of multicolor electron bunches with narrow peaks in the energy spectrum and a subfemtosecond duration. With typical laser parameters available currently, simulations show that electron bunches with central energy of about $30\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\mathrm{MeV}$, energy spread of about $2\mathrm{%}$, and duration of $460$ attoseconds can be obtained. Such electron sources can be driven by current laser systems operating at kilohertz repetition rates, making them attractive for wide applications.

Magnetic field-assisted wakefield generation and electron acceleration by Gaussian and super-Gaussian laser pulses in plasma

This study focuses on electron acceleration and wakefield produced by Gaussian and Super-Gaussian (SG) laser pulses through plasma medium in the attendance of an external magnetic field. Two shapes of different laser spatial profiles Gaussian and SG are considered. Besides, governing equations for analysis of laser wakefield and electron acceleration by using of hydrodynamics fluid equations, Maxwell’s equations and perturbation technique for Gaussian and SG laser pulses in weakly nonlinear regime have been derived. In addition, influence of the external magnetic field strengths, laser intensity, the pulselength, the plasma electron density and the laser frequency on the wakefield and the electron energy gain have been investigated. Numerical results indicate that by increasing of external magnetic field, the amplitude of wakefield increases. Moreover, it is observed that wakefield amplitude excited by SG laser pulse in comparison with Gaussian laser pulse is larger when external magnetic field is increased. Furthermore, it is found that wakefield amplitude and shape of wakefield generation in within homogeneous plasma greatly are related to the laser profile type, selected laser parameters and external magnetic field. In addition, it is seen that influence of external magnetic field, while laser intensity enhances, on the electron energy gain in SG and Gaussian laser pulses is insignificant.

Low frequency Compressional modes in degenerate semiconductor plasmas

Properties of low frequency compressional electromagnetic wave pulse in a magnetized semiconductor hole-electron plasma, are investigated. The quantum mechanical effects such as Fermi pressure, quantum tunneling and exchange-correlation potential of inertialess electrons, inertial holes and stationary charged ion particulates are considered in the presence of the magnetic field. A new type of dispersion relation is derived for low-frequency compressional waves by employing quantum magneto-hydrodynamic model and Maxwell equations; the dispersion relation is then analyzed for parallel, perpendicular and oblique propagation of compressional electromagnetic wave pulse to the external magnetic field direction. We have analyzed the obtained dispersion relations numerically, for different semiconductor plasma such as GaAs, GaSb and, GaN, the graphs shows that the frequency of compressional electromagnetic wave pulse decreases with increase of electron-hole density concentration, whereas the frequency increases with the increase of angle of propagation compressional electromagnetic wave pulse. Our results are applicable to understanding the dynamics of semiconductor plasma to produce high power, high band-width devices in contrast to the existing gas plasma devices. Keywords: degenerate semiconductor plasma, quantum mechanical effects, compression electromagnetic wave, gas plasma device.

Bright synchrotron radiation from relativistic self-trapping of a short laser pulse in near-critical density plasma.

In a dense gas plasma a short laser pulse propagates in a relativistic self-trapping mode, which enables the effective conversion of laser energy to the accelerated electrons. This regime sustains effective loading which maximizes the total charge of the accelerating electrons, that provides a large amount of betatron radiation. The three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations demonstrate how such a regime triggers x-ray generation with 0.1-1 MeV photon energies, low divergence, and high brightness. It is shown that a 135-TW laser can be used to produce 3×10^{10} photons of >10 keV energy and a 1.2-PW laser makes it possible generating about 10^{12} photons in the same energy range. The laser-to-gamma energy conversion efficiency is up to 10^{-4} for the high-energy photons, ∼100 keV, while the conversion efficiency to the entire keV-range x rays is estimated to be a few tenths of a percent.

Boosting the performance of Brillouin amplification at sub-quarter-critical densities via reduction of parasitic Raman scattering

Brillouin amplification of laser pulses in plasma has been shown to be a promising approach to produce picosecond pulses of petawatt power. A key challenge is preservation of the quality of the amplified pulse, which requires control of parasitic instabilities that accompany the amplification process. At high plasma densities (/4), ponderomotive filamentation has been identified as the biggest threat to the integrity of the amplifying pulse. It has therefore been proposed to perform Brillouin scattering at densities below to reduce the influence of filamentation. However, parasitic Raman scattering can become a problem at such densities, contrary to densities above where it is forbidden. In this paper, we investigate the influence of parasitic Raman scattering on Brillouin amplification at densities below . We expose the specific problems posed by both Raman backward and forward scattering, and how both types of scattering can be mitigated, leading to an increased performance of the Brillouin amplification process.

Scattering of ultrashort laser pulses in Maxwellian plasmas: Transition scattering

In this paper, we presented a model, describing transition scattering of ultrashort laser pulses (USLPs) in Maxwellian plasmas in terms of the full spectral-angular probability during the entire time of pulse action. We demonstrated that in the case of the USLP, probability dependence on pulse duration (τ-dependence) generally is a non-monotonic function. The main trends of the τ-dependence were defined. For quasi-elastic transition scattering, we derived analytical formulas of the full spectral-angular probability that describes non-monotonic areas of the τ-dependence with high accuracy. In the framework of the analytical approach, we established conditions, at which non-monotonic trends are realized, and assessed dynamics of local extremes at the variation of problem parameters. We compared τ-dependence, angular dependence of transition, and Thomson scattering probability and assessed limits of analytical approximations. The crucial similarities and differences of these two types of scattering were described.

Dynamics of dust-ion acoustic cnoidal and solitary pulses in a magnetized collisional complex plasma

ABSTRACT The diagnostic of magnetized radio frequency complex plasma via probing techniques and spectroscopy is challenging. However, a self-excited dust ion acoustic waves (DIAWs) have been observed employing laser scattering. Inspired by the current high enthusiasm for the theoretical description of complex plasma, we study the propagation of DIAWs in a three-dimensional collisional and magnetized dusty plasma medium. We consider the fluid model for dust and ion particles, while we neglect the inertia of electrons considering the Boltzmann distribution. A linear dispersion relation is obtained and a nonlinear modified Zakharov–Kuznetsov equation is derived utilizing the reductive perturbation technique. The effects of ion-neutral and dust-neutral collisions on the dynamics of the nonlinear DIAWs are considered. The phase portrait analysis and numerical illustration of a rarefactive DIA cnoidal waves and solitons are also presented. Our findings agree with experimental observations by Choudhary M, Bergert R, Mitic S, and Thomas MH. [Influence of external magnetic field on dust acoustic waves in a capacitive rf discharge. Contrib Plasma Phys. 2020;60:e201900115] as the growth of nonlinear periodic waves is recorded when the magnetic field is roughly 0.05 T and vanishes when the magnetic field is close to 0.1 T. Moreover, the model reveals that the electrostatic cnoidal and soliton waves propagate with low frequencies up to 140 Hz.

Unipolar terahertz pulse formation in a nonequilibrium plasma channel formed by an ultrashort uv laser pulse.

We perform an alternative approach to produce highly unipolar terahertz pulses. The idea is based on the nonuniform amplification of seed ultrashort carrier-envelope phase (CEP) pulses in nonequilibrium fast relaxing plasma of air or nitrogen. If the gain coefficient drops significantly within the duration of a one-cycle CEP pulse, it undergoes significant distortion where the leading edge of the pulse is amplified and the trailing tail of opposite polarity is absorbed. The obtained results involve a self-consistent solution of the second-order wave equation and kinetic Boltzmann equation for the electron velocity distribution function relaxation.

Wakefield Excitation by a Sequence of Laser Pulses in Plasma

Wakefield Excitation by a Sequence of Laser Pulses in Plasma

New method of unipolar THz pulse generation in photo-ionised xenon plasma

We propose a new method for producing terahertz (THz) pulses with a high degree of unipolarity. This idea is based on the nonuniform amplification of seed THz one-cycle carrier envelope phase pulses in nonequilibrium xenon plasma. The significant impact of the propagated pulse on the evolution of plasma leads to a strong decrease in the gain coefficient within the duration of the one-cycle pulse. As a result, the leading edge of the pulse is amplified while the trailing tail of opposite polarity is absorbed; this effect leads to the formation of unipolarity. These results are obtained by the self-consistent solution of the second-order wave equation and kinetic Boltzmann equation for the electron velocity distribution function relaxation.

Investigation of self-focusing a Gaussian laser pulse in a weakly relativistic and ponderomotive regime inside a collisionless warm quantum plasma

This article investigates nonlinear self-focusing of an intense right hand circularly polarized Gaussian profile laser pulse in a weakly relativistic and ponderomotive regime inside a collisionless and unmagnetized warm quantum plasma. The nonlinear propagation equation for laser pulse in plasma has been derived. Then, the evolution differential equation for laser spot-size was obtained with considering the parabolic equation approach under the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin and paraxial ray approximations. This differential equation was solved numerically by fourth-order Runge-Kutta method. It is shown that our solution confirms the results of the self-focusing of the laser pulse in a weakly relativistic ponderomotive regime in cold quantum plasma in extreme conditions. Numerical results indicate that self-focusing of the laser pulse in the presence of relativistic and ponderomotive nonlinearity inside warm quantum plasma is improved in comparison with relativistic and ponderomotive cold quantum plasma.

Three-step model for third-harmonic generation in air by nanosecond lasers

Understanding the phenomena involved in harmonic generation in plasmas by high-power pulsed lasers is a paramount task for developing new techniques for generation of coherent radiation in ultrashort bursts. Although first experiments on harmonic generation involved nanosecond lasers and inspired further interest in the subject, numerical simulations on harmonic generation are currently mainly oriented toward ultrashort fs lasers. This paper presents a combined theoretical–experimental approach to the generation mechanisms and the properties of third-harmonic (TH) radiation generated by infrared nanosecond laser pulses in air-breakdown plasma. The paper indicates that, at the microscopic level, the generation of TH can be described by a three-step model, which involves breakdown of nitrogen molecules in the air. First, the nitrogen molecules undergo cascade-impact ionization; then, the ionized molecules are quasi-resonantly excited through three-photon absorption; in the third step, the nitrogen molecules de-excite to the fundamental level with associated emission of TH radiation. At the macroscopic level, the three-step model is implemented considering that the breakdown plasma is a conductive nonlinear medium whose third-order susceptibility and complex conductivity depend upon the cubic root of the driving laser intensity. The 2D numerical simulations performed in the frame of this model are in good agreement with the experimental data in terms of TH generation efficiency, collimation, and polarization of TH radiation, indicating the validity of the theoretical model presented here. The model enables realistic calculations with affordable computing power for prediction and control of the TH generation process driven by nanosecond laser pulses. The results are important from the fundamental and practical points of view, thus providing an efficient tool for prediction of nonlinear optical phenomena in laser-produced plasmas and for noncontact diagnosis of harmonic-generating plasmas.

Compression of the laser pulse in magnetized plasma having relativistic regime

A study of the interaction of laser with magnetized plasma in the relativistic regime has been presented. Using Maxwell equations, a modified nonlinear Schrodinger equation (MNLS) is derived for nonlinear propagation of the laser pulse in the presence of a magnetic field (where the propagation of laser pulse is along magnetic field). Using the pseudospectral and finite difference methods the (MNLS) equation has been solved numerically for typical laser plasma parameters. It is found that the compression of the ultra-short laser pulse is enhanced by application of static magnetic field and the laser pulse is gradually compressed from 30 to 12fs. We have also observed the splitting of the laser pulse inside the plasma and the generation of magnetic turbulence. The ensemble averaged power spectrum of magnetic turbulence has been presented. Our results follow the spectral index approximation scales, of the order of k−2 at larger scale and k−4 at a smaller scale. Such a nonlinear interaction is quite important in understanding turbulence in the astrophysical phenomenon.

Terahertz radiation generation by beating of two chirped laser pulses in a warm collisional magnetized plasma

Analytical equations of terahertz (THz) radiation generation based on beating of two laser beams in a warm collisional magnetized plasma with a ripple density profile are developed. In this regard, the effects of frequency chirp on the field amplitude of the terahertz radiation as well as the temperature and collision parameters are investigated. The ponderomotive force is generated in the frequency chirp of beams. Resonant excitation depends on tuning of the plasma beat frequency, magnetic field frequency, thermal velocity, collisional frequency, and effect of the frequency chirp with the plasma density. For optimum parameters of frequency and temperature the maximum THz amplitude is obtained.