Generation of intense ultrashort midinfrared pulses by laser-plasma interaction in the bubble regime

Journal Article · Wed Dec 15 00:00:00 EST 2010 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.82.063804· OSTI ID:21528964

Pai, C -H; Chang, Y -Y; Ha, L -C; Xie, Z -H; Chen, Y -M; Wang, J ^[1]; Lin, M -W; Chen, S -Y ^[1]; Lin, J -M ^[1]; Tsaur, G ^[2]; Chu, H -H; Chen, S -H ^[3]; Lin, J -Y ^[4]

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1. Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei 10617, Taiwan (China)
2. Department of Mathematics, Tunghai University, Taichung 40704, Taiwan (China)
3. Department of Physics, National Central University, Jhongli 32001, Taiwan (China)
4. Department of Physics, National Chung Cheng University, Chia-Yi 62102, Taiwan (China)

As an intense laser pulse propagates through an underdense plasma, the strong ponderomotive force pushes away the electrons and produces a trailing plasma bubble. In the meantime the pulse itself undergoes extreme nonlinear evolution that results in strong spectral broadening toward the long-wavelength side. By experiment we demonstrate that this process can be utilized to generate ultrashort midinfrared pulses with an energy three orders of magnitude larger than that produced by crystal-based nonlinear optics. The infrared pulse is encapsulated in the bubble before exiting the plasma, hence is not absorbed by the plasma. The process is analyzed experimentally with laser-plasma tomographic measurements and numerically with three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation. Good agreement is found between theoretical estimation, numerical simulation, and experimental results.

• OSTI ID: 21528964
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 82, Issue 6; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.82.063804; (c) 2010 The American Physical Society; ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
BUBBLES
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
CRYSTALS
ELECTRONS
INTERACTIONS
LASER RADIATION
LINE BROADENING
NONLINEAR OPTICS
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
PARTICLES
PLASMA
PONDEROMOTIVE FORCE
PULSES
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
WAVELENGTHS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
FERMIONS
LEPTONS
OPTICS
RADIATIONS
SIMULATION