Stable self-channeling of intense ultraviolet pulses in underdense plasma, producing channels exceeding 100 Rayleigh lengths

Journal Article · Sat Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1994 · Journal of the Optical Society of America, Part B: Optical Physics; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1364/JOSAB.11.001941· OSTI ID:6698955

Borisov, A B; Shi, X ^[1]; Karpov, V B; Korobkin, V V ^[2]; Solem, J C ^[3]; Shiryaev, O B; McPherson, A; Boyer, K; Rhodes, C K ^[1]

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1. Laboratory for Atomic, Molecular and Radiation Physics, Department of Physics, Room 2136 SES, University of Illinois at Chicago, 845 West Taylor, Chicago, Illinois 60607-7059 (United States)
2. General Physics Institute, Academy of Sciences, Moscow 11794 (Russian Federation)
3. Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)

Spatially confined propagation of high-power subpicosecond ([similar to] 270-fs) ultraviolet (248-nm) pulses has been experimentally studied in cold underdense plasma. The observed channels were longitudinally uniform, were approximately 1.4 [mu]m in diameter, and persisted for a length of 3--4 mm, a distance exceeding 100 Rayleigh ranges. X rays with a quantum energy [gt] 0.5 keV were also detected from the zone of propagation in coincidence with the channel formation. The occurrence of self-channeling with the rapid formation of a stable, extended, and longitudinally homogeneous filament is in qualitative agreement with a theoretical picture involving relativistic and charge-displacement nonlinearities.

• DOE Contract Number: FG02-91ER12108
• OSTI ID: 6698955
• Journal Information: Journal of the Optical Society of America, Part B: Optical Physics; (United States), Journal Name: Journal of the Optical Society of America, Part B: Optical Physics; (United States) Vol. 11:10; ISSN JOBPDE; ISSN 0740-3224
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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