Laser shaping of a relativistic circularly polarized pulse by laser foil interaction

Journal Article · Mon Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2013 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4812719· OSTI ID:22227965

Zou, D. B.; Zhuo, H. B.; Yu, T. P.; Yang, X. H.; Shao, F. Q.; Ma, Y. Y.; Yin, Y.; Ouyang, J. M.; Ge, Z. Y.; Zhang, G. B. ^[1]; Wang, P. ^[2]

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1. College of Science, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073 (China)
2. College of Computer, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073 (China)

Laser shaping of a relativistic circularly polarized laser pulse in ultra-intense laser thin-foil interaction is investigated by theoretical analysis and particle-in-cell simulations. It is found that the plasma foil as a nonlinear optical shutter has an obvious cut-out effect on the laser temporal and spatial profiles. Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that the high intensity part of a Gaussian laser pulse can be well extracted from the whole pulse. The transmitted pulse with longitudinal steep rise front and transverse super-Gaussian profile is thus obtained which would be beneficial for the radiation pressure acceleration regime. The Rayleigh-Taylor-like instability is observed in the simulations, which destroys the foil and results in the cut-out effect of the pulse in the rise front of a circularly polarized laser.

• OSTI ID: 22227965
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 20, Issue 7; Other Information: (c) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
FOILS
GAUSSIAN PROCESSES
LASER-PRODUCED PLASMA
LASERS
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
PLASMA GUNS
PLASMA SIMULATION
RADIATION PRESSURE
RAYLEIGH-TAYLOR INSTABILITY
RELATIVISTIC PLASMA
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS