Role of Plasma in Femtosecond Laser Pulse Propagation

Journal Article · Fri Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 2006 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2406026· OSTI ID:20898632

Mezentsev, Vladimir; Dubov, Mykhaylo; Petrovic, Jovana S; Bennion, Ian ^[1]; Dreher, Juergen; Grauer, Rainer ^[2]

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1. Photonics Research Group, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET (United Kingdom)
2. Theoretische Physik I, Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum, D-44780 Bochum (Germany)

This paper describes physics of nonlinear ultra-short laser pulse propagation affected by plasma created by the pulse itself. Major applications are also discussed. Nonlinear propagation of the femtosecond laser pulses in gaseous and solid transparent dielectric media is a fundamental physical phenomenon in a wide range of important applications such as laser lidars, laser micro-machining (ablation) and microfabrication etc. These applications require very high intensity of the laser field, typically 1013-1015 TW/cm2. Such high intensity leads to significant ionisation and creation of electron-ion or electron-hole plasma. The presence of plasma results into significant multiphoton and plasma absorption and plasma defocusing. Consequently, the propagation effects appear extremely complex and result from competitive counteraction of the above listed effects and Kerr effect, diffraction and dispersion. The theoretical models used for consistent description of laser-plasma interaction during femtosecond laser pulse propagation are derived and discussed. It turns out that the strongly nonlinear effects such self-focusing followed by the pulse splitting are essential. These phenomena feature extremely complex dynamics of both the electromagnetic field and plasma density with different spatio-temporal structures evolving at the same time. Some numerical approaches capable to handle all these complications are also discussed.

• OSTI ID: 20898632
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Journal Name: AIP Conference Proceedings Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 876; ISSN APCPCS; ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ABLATION
ABSORPTION
DIELECTRIC MATERIALS
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS
IONIZATION
KERR EFFECT
LASER RADIATION
LASERS
MULTI-PHOTON PROCESSES
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
OPTICAL RADAR
PLASMA DENSITY
PLASMA HEATING
PLASMA PRODUCTION
PULSES
SOLID-STATE PLASMA