Because of the large mass differences between electrons and ions, the heat diffusion in electron-ion plasmas exhibits more complex behavior than simple heat diffusion found in typical gas mixtures. In particular, heat is diffused in two distinct, but coupled, channels. Conventional single fluid models neglect the resulting complexity, and can often inaccurately interpret the results of heat pulse experiments. However, by recognizing the sensitivity of the electron temperature evolution to the ion diffusivity, not only can previous experiments be interpreted correctly, but informative simultaneous measurements can be made of both ion and electron heat channels.
We generated and characterized plasma with single and double picosecond laser pulses in order to study the plume dynamics and to control the plasma properties. The double-pulse scheme was found to be superior for the generation of a homogeneous plasma. The lateral expansion was prominent for irradiation schemes wherein energy of the first pulse is lower/equal to that of the second pulse. While the velocities of the fast and slow species were found to be nearly equal, the emission counts corresponding to slow species are larger for single pulse compared to the double pulse.
Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) induced pulsed plasma is unique due to its transient characteristics: the plasma switches between non-thermal state (when EUV power is ON at the beginning of the pulse) and thermal state (end of the pulse at ~ 20 us). It is shown that although electron drag force acting on nm size particles in hydrogen plasma is negligible compared to the ion drag force at the beginning of the pulse, however it can be dominant at the end of the pulse and can play important role in particle transport leading to defectivity issues for semiconductor chip production technologies.
Particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation results of sustained acceleration of electron-positron (e+e-) plasmas by comoving electromagnetic (EM) pulses are presented. When a thin slab of overdense e+e- plasma is irradiated with linear-polarized ultra-intense short laser pulses from both sides, the pulses are transmitted when the plasma is compressed to thinner than ~ 2 relativistic skin depths. A fraction of the plasma is then captured and efficiently accelerated by self-induced JxB forces. For 1 micron laser and 1021Wcm-2 intensity, the maximum energy exceeds GeV in a picosecond.
Low-frequency mangnetosonic pulses in a two-ion-species plasma are studied theoretically and by simulation with a one-dimensional electromagnetic simulation code based on a three-fluid model, with particular attention to the dynamics of minority heavy ions. It is found that heavy ions can gain some energy from the pulses. Because of this energy transfer, the pulses are damped even if the plasma is collisionless and pulse propagation is perpendicular to the magnetic field.
The change of the shape of an ultrashort electromagnetic pulse in its propagation in solid-state plasma was calculated in the linear approximation. A case of solid-state silver plasma and of a "Mexican hat" wavelet pulse was considered. The dielectric permittivity of the medium was calculated in the Drude model. Strong dispersion spreading of a pulse at distances of the order of several microns was shown, and the comparison of evolution of the pulse shape for different center frequencies was carried out.
An ideal plasma lens can provide the focusing power of a small f-number, solid-state focusing optic at a fraction of the diameter. An ideal plasma lens, however, relies on a steady-state, linear laser pulse-plasma interaction. Ultrashort multi-petawatt (MPW) pulses possess broad bandwidths and extreme intensities, and, as a result, their interaction with the plasma lens is neither steady state nor linear. Here we examine nonlinear and time-dependent modifications to plasma lens focusing, and show that these result in chromatic and phase aberrations and amplitude distortion. We find that a plas…
Propagation of relativistically intense azimuthally or radially polarized laser pulses (RPP) in underdense plasmas is demonstrated to be unstable, via 3D particle-in-cell simulation and disregarding the Kerr non-linearity. Strong pulse filamentation occurs for RPP in transversely uniform plasma with an increment, $Γ$, close to the well-known one depending on acceleration, $α$, and modulated density gradient length, $L$, as $Γ\approx (α/L)^{1/2}$. In deep plasma channels the instability vanishes. Electron self-injection and acceleration by the resulting laser pulse wake is explored.
Propagation distances of intense laser pulses and high-charge electron beams through the plasma are, respectively, limited by diffraction and self-deceleration. This imposes severe constraints on the performance of the two major advanced accelerator concepts: laser and plasma wakefield accelerators. Using numerical simulations, we demonstrate that when the two beams co-propagate in the plasma, they can interact synergistically and extend each other's travel distances. The key interactions responsible for the synergy are found to be laser channeling by the electron bunch, and direct laser accel…
Characterization of self-consistent laser-plasma evolutions serves as a fundamental issue in the field of relativistic laser-plasma interactions. In this paper, we present an analysis framework for description of these evolutions during propagation of a short intense laser pulse in a sub-critical high-density plasma (the pulse length exceeds the plasma wavelength). In this context, the pulse evolutions are attributed to the wakefield induced self-modulation and destabilization via parametric exponentiation of the initial noise content. The self-consistent plasma evolutions are formulated in te…
The wakefield and stopping power of an ion-beam pulse moving in magnetized plasmas are investigated by particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. The effects of beam velocity and density on the wake and stopping power are discussed. In the presence of magnetic field, it is found that beside the longitudinal conversed V-shaped wakes, the strong whistler wave are observed when low-density and low-velocity pulses moving in plasmas. The corresponding stopping powers are enhanced due to the drag of these whistler waves. As beam velocities increase, the whistler waves disappear, and only are conversed V-sh…
A new type of nonlinear dust pulse structures has been observed in afterglow complex plasma under microgravity condition on board the International Space Station (ISS). The dust pulses are triggered spontaneously as the plasma is switched off and the particles start to flow through each other (uni-directional or counter-streaming) in the presence of a low-frequency external electric excitation. The pulses are oblique with respect to the microparticle cloud and appear to be symmetric with respect to the central axis. A possible explanation of this observation with the spontaneous development of…
A method to generate an intense isolated few-cycle attosecond XUV pulse is demonstrated using particle-in-cell simulations. When a tailored laser pulse with a sharp edge irradiates a foil target, a strong transverse net current can be excited, which emits a few-cycle XUV pulse from the target rear side. The isolated pulse is ultrashort in the time domain with a duration of several hundred attoseconds. It also has a narrow bandwidth in the spectral domain compared to other XUV sources of high-order harmonics. It has most energy confined around the plasma frequency and no low-harmonic orders bel…
A thin layer of overdense plasma is created when an electromagnetic pulse interacts with a rapidly ionizing thin foil. This layer will reflect the incoming pulse, forming a so-called plasma mirror. A simple realistic model based on paired kinetic and wave equations is used to describe analytically the process of mirror formation and the reflection and transmission of the incident pulse. The model incorporates the exact description of the ionization process in the foil and the polarization and conduction currents that follow. The analytical description of the reflected and transmitted pulses as…
Plasma high harmonics generation from an extremely intense short-pulse laser is explored by including the effects of ion motion, electron-ion collisions and radiation reaction force in the plasma dynamics. The laser radiation pressure induces plasma ion motion through the hole-boring effect resulting into the frequency shifting and widening of the harmonic spectra. Classical radiation reaction force slightly mitigates the frequency broadening caused by the ion motion. Based on the results and physical considerations, parameter maps highlighting optimum regions for generating a single intense a…
Conventional snowplow/1-D models assume the existence of single completely ionized plasma sheet in the discharge chamber of pulsed plasma thrusters (PPTs). However, extensive experimental analysis and observations suggest the presence of multiple plasma streams and partial ionization of the propellant gas. A multi-layered plasma-neutral mass sheet one-dimensional numerical model is developed for PPTs in the present paper. The model accounts for the secondary plasma sheets generated due to the crowbar breakdowns as well as the neutral gas generated after the main discharge. The model accurately…
We present a scheme for amplifying an extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) seed isolated attosecond pulse via stimulated Raman scattering of a pulse-train pump. At sufficient seed and pump intensity, the amplification is nonlinear, and the amplitude of the seed pulse can reach that of the pump, one order of magnitude higher than the initial seed amplitude. In the linear amplification regime, we find that the spectral signature of the pump pulse train is imprinted on the spectrum of the amplified seed pulse. Since the spectral signature is imprinted with its frequency downshifted by the plasma frequency, …
A robust plasma gating to generate a single ultra-intense attosecond pulse is developed. It is a manifestation of the hole-boring effect that limits the strongest attosecond pulse emission within one laser cycle. The generated pulse is characterized by a stabilized harmonic phase $ψ\approx \pmπ/2$ and a slowly decaying exponential spectrum bounded by $γ$-spike scaling and CSE scaling. The phase oscillations in low-frequency region and fluctuations in high-frequency region are discussed. We also show that the phase fluctuations in high-frequency region can be reduced by including radiation reac…
Spectral red-shifting of high power laser pulses propagating through underdense plasma can be a source of ultrashort mid-infrared (MIR) radiation. During propagation, a high power laser pulse drives large amplitude plasma waves, depleting the pulse energy. At the same time, the large amplitude plasma wave provides a dynamic dielectric response that leads to spectral shifting. The loss of laser pulse energy and the approximate conservation of laser pulse action imply that spectral red-shifts accompany the depletion. In this paper, we investigate, through simulation, the parametric dependence of…
It is well known that optical emission produced by femtosecond laser-induced breakdown on a surface may be enhanced by using a pair of laser pulses separated by a suitable delay. Here we elucidate the mechanism for this effect both experimentally and theoretically. Using a bilayer sample consisting of a thin film of Ag deposited on an Al substrate as the ablation target and measuring the breakdown spectrum as a function of fluence and pulse delay, it is shown experimentally that the enhanced signal is not caused by additional ablation initiated by the second pulse. Rather, particle-in-cell cal…
The propagation of intense laser pulses and the generation of high energy electrons from the underdense plasmas are investigated using two dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. When the ratio of the laser power and a critical power of relativistic self-focusing is the optimal value, it propagates stably and electrons have maximum energies.
In the present analysis we study the self consistent propagation of nonlinear electromagnetic pulses in a one dimensional relativistic electron-ion plasma, from the perspective of nonlinear dynamics. We show how a series of Hamiltonian bifurcations give rise to the electric fields which are of relevance in the subject of particle acceleration. Connections between these bifurcated solutions and results of earlier analysis are made.
We demonstrate ultrashort (6 ps), multi-Megagauss (27 MG) magnetic pulses generated upon interaction of an intense laser pulse (10^{16} Wcm^-2, 100 fs) with a solid target. The temporal evolution of these giant fields generated near the high density critical layer is obtained with the highest resolution reported so far. Particle-in-cell simulations and phenomenological modeling is used to explain the results. The first direct observations of anomalously rapid damping of plasma shielding currents produced in response to the hot electron currents penetrating the bulk plasma are presented.
We develop an analytical model for ultraintense attosecond pulse emission in the highly relativistic laser-plasma interaction. In this model, the attosecond pulse is emitted by a strongly compressed electron layer around the instant when the layer transverse current changes the sign and its longitudinal velocity approaches the maximum. The emitted attosecond pulse has a broadband exponential spectrum and a stabilized constant spectral phase $ψ(ω)=\pmπ/2-ψ_{A_m}$. The waveform of the attosecond pulse is also given explicitly, to our knowledge, for the first time. We validate the analytical mode…
A comprehensive theory is proposed to describe the propagation and absorption of ultra-intense, short laser pulse through the under-dense plasma. The kinetic aspects of plasma are fully incorporated using extensive particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. It is turned out that the plasma behavior is characterized by both its density and the ratio of the pulse length to the plasma wavelength. According to exact analyses and direct simulation evidences, at ultra-low densities the laser pulse is adiabatically depleted (absorbed) by the wake excitation. And the depletion is accompanied by the overall r…
To maximize the charge of a high-energy electron beam accelerated by an ultra-intense laser pulse propagating in a subcritical plasma, the pulse length should be longer than both the plasma wavelength and the laser pulse width, which is quite different from the standard bubble regime. In addition, the laser--plasma parameters should be chosen to produce the self-trapping regime of relativistic channeling, where the diffraction divergence is balanced by the relativistic nonlinearity such that the laser beam radius is unchanged during pulse propagation in a plasma over many Rayleigh lengths. The…
Numerical simulations of laser-plasma interactions demonstrate the generation of axially polarized electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) that radiate away energy with a characteristic frequency determined by the plasma frequency, in the THz range for typical laser wakefield acceleration experiments. This is confirmed by full 2D electromagnetic particle-in-cell simulations, as well as by a ponderomotively-driven reduced model that captures the EMP generation essentials. When the laser's pulse length matches the plasma wavelength, that pulse's fractional energy losses to the wakefield are independent of…
We present a theoretical investigation of the excitation of multiple electrostatic wakefields by the ponderomotive force of a short electromagnetic pulse propagating through a dense plasma. It is found that the inclusion of the quantum statistical pressure and quantum electron tunneling effects can qualitatively change the classical behavior of the wakefield. In addition to the well known plasma oscillation wakefield, with a wavelength of the order of the electron skin depth, which in a dense plasma is of the order of several nanometers, wakefields in dense plasmas with a shorter wavelength ar…
Ultracold neutral plasmas exhibit a density-dependent resonant response to applied radio-frequency (RF) fields in the frequency range of several MHz to hundreds of MHz for achievable densities. We have conducted measurements where short bursts of RF were applied to these plasmas, with pulse durations as short as two cycles. We still observed a density-dependent resonant response to these short pulses. However, the too rapid timescale of the response, the dependence of the response on the sign of the driving field, the response as the number of pulses was increased, and the difference in plasma…
Stimulated Raman scattering of an ultra-intense laser pulse in plasmas is studied by perturbatively including the leading order term of the Landau-Lifshitz radiation reaction force in the equation of motion for plasma electrons. In this approximation, radiation reaction force causes phase shift in nonlinear current densities that drive the two Raman sidebands (anti-Stokes and Stokes waves), manifesting itself into the nonlinear mixing of two sidebands. This mixing results in a strong enhancement in the growth of the forward Raman scattering instability.
A relatively efficient scheme to generate energetic $γ$-ray is all-optical Compton scattering based on wakefield acceleration and plasma mirror where planar or concave solid target is usually employed to reflect driving pulse. For flat plasma mirror case, the colliding pulse radius is far larger than the radius of accelerated electron beam, which leads to smaller laser utilization efficiency. The concave plasma mirror can efficiently focus reflected laser to match electron beam radius. But the produced photon beam collimation is worse due to intensive transverse field and larger transverse wav…
The propagation of the laser pulses in the underdense plasma is a very crucial aspect of laser-plasma interaction process. In this work, we explored the two regimes of laser propagation in plasma, one with $a_0 < 1$ and other with $a_0 \gtrsim 10$. For $a_0<1$ case, we used a cold relativistic fluid model, wherein apart from immobile ions no further approximations are made. The effect of the laser pulse amplitude, pulse duration, and plasma density is studied using the fluid model and compared with the expected scaling laws and also with the PIC simulations. The agreement between the fluid mod…
A kinetic equation describing the nonlinear evolution of intense electromagnetic pulses in electron-positron (e-p) plasmas is presented. The modulational instability is analyzed for a relativistically intense partially coherent pulse, and it is found that the modulational instability is inhibited by the spectral pulse broadening. A numerical study for the one-dimensional kinetic photon equation is presented. Computer simulations reveal a Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-like recurrence phenomena for localized broadband pulses. The results should be of importance in understanding the nonlinear propagation of b…
Electric fields in a plasma that conducts a high-current pulse are measured as a function of time and space. The experiment is performed using a coaxial configuration, in which a current rising to 160 kA in 100 ns is conducted through a plasma that prefills the region between two coaxial electrodes. The electric field is determined using laser spectroscopy and line-shape analysis. Plasma doping allows for 3D spatially resolved measurements. The measured peak magnitude and propagation velocity of the electric field is found to match those of the Hall electric field, inferred from the magnetic-f…
Proposals to reach the next generation of laser intensities through Raman or Brillouin backscattering have centered on optical frequencies. Higher frequencies are beyond the range of such methods mainly due to the wave damping that accompanies the higher density plasmas necessary for compressing higher frequency lasers. However, we find that an external magnetic field transverse to the direction of laser propagation can reduce the required plasma density. Using parametric interactions in magnetized plasmas to mediate pulse compression both reduces the wave damping and alleviates instabilities,…
We present a new mechanism of attosecond extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) pulses generation from a relativistic laser-driven overdense plasma surfaces in the wavebreaking regime. Through particle-in-cell simulations and analysis, we demonstrate that the observed ultrashort XUV emission for the parameters we considered is predominantly due to a strong plasma-density oscillation subsequent to wavebreaking. The coupling of the strong density variation and the transverse fields in the front surface layer gives rise to the transmitted emission with frequencies mainly around the local plasma frequency. Thi…
The long-time evolution of the two-stream instability of a cold ion beam pulse propagating though the background plasma is investigated using a large-scale one-dimensional electrostatic kinetic simulation. The three stages of the instability are identified and investigated in detail. After the initial linear growth and saturation by the electron trapping, a portion of the initially trapped electrons becomes detrapped and moves ahead of the ion beam pulse forming a {forerunner} electron beam, which causes a secondary two-stream instability that preheats the upstream plasma electrons. Consequent…
Nonlinear evolutions of an ultra-intense, short laser pulse due to the wake excitation inside the plasma are studied by means of detailed Particle-In-Cell (PIC) simulations and comprehensive analyses. Pulse lengths both longer and shorter than the plasma wavelength are considered. It is turned out that the system shows adiabatic behavior as long as the plasma evolves very slowly in the Pulse Co-Moving (PCM) frame due to the ignorable radiation back-reactions. A sophisticated treatment of the adiabatic regime is presented, based on the proper application of the local conservation laws in the PC…
The results of experimental investigations of the ejection of electrons from gas-discharge nonneutral electron plasma at interaction of vortex structures have been given. The periodical approach of vortex structures causes the ejection of electrons both from the vortex structures themselves and from the adjacent regions of electron sheath to the end cathodes of discharge device. The ejection takes place in the form of short and long pulses following each other. The nature of these pulses and the dynamics of interaction of vortex structures at their approach were studied.
In a recent one-dimensional numerical fluid simulation study [Saxena et al., Phys. Plasmas 13,032309 (2006)], it was found that an instability is associated with a special class of one-dimensional nonlinear solutions for modulated light pulses coupled to electron plasma waves in a relativistic cold plasma model. It is shown here that the instability can be understood on the basis of the stimulated Raman scattering phenomenon and the occurrence of density bursts in the trailing edge of the modulated structures are a manifestation of an explosive instability arising from a nonlinear phase mixing…
The results of experimental investigations of electron ejection from gas-discharge nonneutral electron plasma at the formation and radial oscillations of vortex structure have been presented. The electrons are injected from the vortex structure and the adjacent region of electron sheath in the form of pulses the duration and periodicity of which are determined by the processes of evolution and dynamics of this structure. The possible mechanisms of pulse ejection of electrons are considered. The influence of electron ejection on other processes in discharge electron sheath is analyzed.
Relativistic self-focusing and channeling of intense laser pulses have been studied in underdense plasma using 2D PIC simulations, for different laser powers and plasma densities. Analytical solutions for the stationary evacuated channels have been recovered in PIC simulations. It is shown that otherwise stable channels can accelerate electrons due to surface waves on the walls of the channels. Relativistic filaments with finite electron density are unstable to transverse modulations which lead in the nonlinear stage to the break-up of laser pulses into independent filaments. Different regimes…
An intense, short laser pulse propagating across a plasma boundary ponderomotively drives THz radiation. Full format PIC simulations and theoretical analysis are conducted to investigate the properties of this radiation. Simulation results show the THz emission originates in regions of varying density and covers a broad spectrum with maximum frequency close to the maximum plasma frequency. In the case of a sharp vacuum-plasma boundary, the radiation is generated symmetrically at the plasma entrance and exit, and its properties are independent of plasma density when the density exceeds a charac…
When propagating inside dielectrics, an ultrafast Bessel beam creates a high aspect-ratio cylinder of plasma with nanometric diameter that extends over several tens of micrometers to centimeters. We analyze the interaction between the intense ultrafast laser pulse and the plasma rod using particle-in-cell simulations. We show that electrons are heated and accelerated up to keV energies via transit acceleration inside the resonance lobes in the vicinity of the critical surface and compute their radiation pattern.
An experiment for studying laser self-guiding has been carried out for the high power ultrashort pulse laser interaction with an underdense plasma slab. Formation of an extremely long plasma channel and its bending are observed when the laser pulse power is much higher than the critical power for relativistic self-focusing. The long self-guiding channel formation is accompanied by electron acceleration with a low transverse emittance and high electric current. Particle-in-cell simulations show that laser bending occurs when the accelerated electrons overtake the laser pulse and modify the refr…
This work investigates the influence of pulse modulation frequency ranging from 50 Hz- 10 kHz on the helium RF atmospheric pressure plasma jet's fundamental characteristics. The impact of modulation frequency on plasma jet discharge behavior, geometrical variation, reactive species emission, and plasma parameters (gas temperature Tg, electron excitation temperature Texc, and electron density (ne) are studied using various diagnostics such as optical imaging, emission spectra, and thermal diagnostics. From the experiments, it is observed that operating the plasma jet at low pulse modulation fre…
Laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) using high repetition rate mJ-class laser systems brings unique opportunities for a broad range of applications. In order to meet the conditions required for the electron acceleration with lasers operating at lower energies, one has to use high density plasmas and ultrashort pulses. In the case of a few-cycle pulse, the dispersion and the carrier envelope phase effects can no longer be neglected. In this work, the properties of the wake waves generated by ultrashort pulse lasers in near-critical density plasmas are investigated. The results obtained may lead…
We consider nonlinear interaction of superpower laser pulses of relativistic intensities with nanolayers and solid-plasma-targets towards the production of high energy-density electron bunches along with nuclear radiation (hard $% γ$-quanta and positron fluxes). It is shown that petawatt lasers are capable of producing via two-target scheme high density field free electron/positron bunches and substantial amounts of $γ$-quanta with energies up to $200$ MeV. For actual supershort and tightly focused--strongly nonplane ultrarelativistic laser pulses of linear and circular polarizations 3D3V prob…
When the nature of a magnetosonic pulse propagating in a bounded magnetized plasma slab is successively transformed from compression to rarefaction and vice-versa upon reflection at a plasma-vacuum interface, both the energy and the longitudinal electromagnetic (EM) momentum of the plasma-pulse system are found to oscillate between two states. Simple analytical models and particle-in-cell simulations show that these oscillations are associated with EM radiation to and from the surrounding magnetized vacuum. For partial reflection supplemental losses in total pulse energy and mechanical momentu…
Chirped-Pulse Forward Raman Amplification in Nonuniform Plasmas
Shanghai Jiao Tong University（上海交通大学）；National Key Laboratory of Dark Matter Physics, School of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University（暗物质物理全国重点实验室，上海交大物理与天文学院）；Laboratory for Laser Plasmas and Collaborative Innovation Centre of IFSA, Shanghai Jiao Tong University（激光等离子体实验室及IFSA协同创新中心，上海交大）；Tsung-Dao Lee Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University（李政道研究所，上海交大）
The article reports the excitation of a helical argon atmospheric pressure plasma jet using a pulse modulated 13.56 MHz radiofrequency (RF) power source. This helical structure is observed in open ambient air which is far different from the conventional conical shape. This helical structure originates due to the periodic pressure variation in the discharge region caused by pulse modulated RF (2 kHz modulation frequency (fp)) and propagates downstream into the ambient air. The geometrical characteristics of the observed structure are explored using optical imaging. Moreover, the influence of va…
A theoretical study of laser and plasma based electron acceleration is presented. An effective model has been used, in which the presence of an underdense plasma has been taken account via its index of refraction $n_{m}$. In the confines of this model, the basic phenomena can be studied by numerically solving the classical relativistic equations of motion. The key idea of this paper is the application of chirped, bichromatic laser fields. We investigated the advantages and disadvantages of mixing the second harmonic to the original $λ= 800 \, \mathrm{nm}$ wavelength pulse. We performed calcula…
The efficient generation of intense X-rays and $γ$-radiation is studied. The scheme is based on the relativistic mirror concept, {\it i.e.}, a flying thin plasma slab interacts with a counterpropagating laser pulse, reflecting part of it in the form of an intense ultra-short electromagnetic pulse having an up-shifted frequency. In the proposed scheme a series of relativistic mirrors is generated in the interaction of the intense laser with a thin foil target as the pulse tears off and accelerates thin electron layers. A counterpropagating pulse is reflected by these flying layers in the form o…
The regimes of quasi-mono-energetic electron beam generation were experimentally studied in the sub-relativistic intensity laser plasma interaction. The observed electron acceleration regime is unfolded with two-dimensional-particle-in-cell simulations of laser-wakefield generation in the self-modulation regime.
Interaction of axisymmetrically-polarized (radially or azimuthally-polarized), relativistically intense laser pulses (ALP) with under-dense plasma is shown experimentally to be different from the interaction of conventional Gaussian pulses. The difference is clearly observed in distinct spectra of scattered laser light as well as in appearance of a strong side emission of second harmonic in the vicinity of focus spot. According 3D particle-in-cell simulations, this is a result of instability in the propagation of ALP in under-dense plasma. Laser wakefield acceleration of electrons by ALP, ther…
Propagation of short and ultra-intense laser pulses in a semi-infinite space of overdense hydrogen plasma is analyzed via fully-relativistic, real geometry particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations including radiation friction. The relativistic transparency and hole-boring regimes are found to be sensitive to the transverse plasma field, backward light reflection, and laser pulse filamentation. For laser intensities approaching $I\sim10^{24}$ W/cm$^2$ the direct laser acceleration of protons, along with ion Coulomb explosion, results in their injection into the acceleration phase of the compressed el…
