We investigate numerically effects related to ``single-cycle'' ionization of dense matter by an ultra-short laser pulse. The strongly non-adiabatic response of electrons leads to generation of a megagauss steady magnetic field in laser-solid interaction. By using two-beam interference, it is possible to create periodic density structures able to trap light and to generate relativistic ionization fronts
Laser frequency can be upconverted in a plasma undergoing ionization. For finite ionization rates, the laser pulse energy is partitioned into a pair of counter-propagating waves and static transverse currents. The wave amplitudes are determined by the ionization rates and the input pulse duration. The strongest output waves can be obtained when the plasma is fully ionized in a time that is shorter than the pulse duration. The static transverse current can induce a static magnetic field with instant ionization, but it dissipates as heat if the ionization time is longer than a few laser periods.…
Strong-field ionization is central to intense laser-matter interactions. However, standard ionization measurements have been limited to extremely low density gas samples, ignoring potential high density effects. Here, we measure strong-field ionization in atmospheric pressure range air, N2 and Ar over 14 decades of absolute yield, using mid-IR picosecond avalanche multiplication of single electrons. Our results are consistent with theoretical rates for isolated atoms and molecules and quantify the ubiquitous presence of ultra-low concentration gas contaminants that can significantly affect las…
New approaches to perform efficient and selective step-wise Resonance Ionization Spectroscopy (RIS) of radioactive atoms in different types of supersonic gas jets are proposed. This novel application results in a major expansion of the In-Gas Laser Ionization and Spectroscopy (IGLIS) method developed at KU Leuven. Implementation of resonance ionization in the supersonic gas jet allows to increase the spectral resolution by one order of magnitude in comparison with the currently performed in-gas-cell ionization spectroscopy. Properties of supersonic beams, obtained from the de Laval-, the spike…
Modern laser systems are able to generate short and intense laser pulses ionizing matter in the poorly explored barrier-suppression regime. Field ionization in this regime is studied analytically and numerically. For analytical studies, both the classical and the quantum approaches are used. Two approximations to solve the time-dependent Schrödinger equation are proposed: the free electron approximation, in which the atomic potential is neglected, and the motionless approximation, in which only the external field term is considered. In the motionless approximation, the ionization rate in extre…
Ionization is a fundamental process in intense laser-matter interactions, and is known to cause plasma defocusing and intensity clamping. Here, we investigate theoretically the propagation dynamics of an intense laser pulse in a helium gas jet in the ionization saturation regime, and we find that the pulse undergoes self-focusing and self-compression through ionization-induced reshaping, resulting in a manyfold increase in the laser intensity. This unconventional behavior is associated with the spatiotemporal frequency variation mediated by ionization and spatiotempral coupling. Our results il…
The initial stage of the small-scale ionization-induced instability developing inside the fused silica volume exposed to the femtosecond laser pulse is studied as a possible initial cause of the self-organized nanograting formation. We have calculated the spatial spectra of the instability with the electron-hole diffusion taken into account for the first time and have found that it results in the formation of some hybrid (diffusion-wave) 1D structure with the spatial period determined as geometrical mean of the laser wavelength and characteristic diffusion length of the process considered. Nea…
Nonlinear self-guided propagation of intense long-wave infrared (LWIR) laser pulses is of significant recent interest owing to the high critical power for self-focusing collapse at long wavelengths. This promises transmission of very high power in a single filament as opposed to beam breakup and multi-filamentation. Here, using the most current picture of LWIR ionization processes in air, we present extensive simulations showing that isolated avalanche sites centered on aerosols can arrest self-focusing, providing a route to self-guided propagation of moderate intensity LWIR pulses in outdoor …
Effects of ionization injection in low and high Z gas mixtures for the laser wake field acceleration of electrons are analyzed with the use of balance equations and particle-in-cell simulations via test probe particle trajectories in realistic plasma fields and direct simulations of charge loading during the ionization process. It is shown that electrons appearing at the maximum of laser pulse field after optical ionization are trapped in the first bucket of the laser pulse wake. Electrons, which are produced by optical field ionization at the front of laser pulse, propagate backwards; some of…
The interaction of intense laser fields with silver and argon clusters is investigated theoretically using a modified nanoplasma model. Single pulse and double pulse excitations are considered. The influence of the dense cluster environment on the inner ionization processes is studied including the lowering of the ionization energies. There are considerable changes in the dynamics of the laser-cluster interaction. Especially, for silver clusters, the lowering of the ionization energies leads to increased yields of highly charged ions.
It is known that rare-gas or metal clusters absorb incident laser energy very efficiently. However, due to the intricate dependencies on all the laser and cluster parameters it is difficult to predict under which circumstances ionization and energy absorption is optimal. With the help of three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of xenon clusters (up to 17256 atoms) we find that for a given laser pulse energy and cluster an optimum wavelength exists which corresponds to the approximate wavelength of the transient, linear Mie-resonance of the ionizing cluster at an early stage of negligibl…
For the laser wakefield acceleration, suppression of beam energy spread while keeping sufficient charge is one of the key challenges. In order to achieve this, we propose bichromatic laser ionization injection with combined laser wavelengths of $2.4\rm μm$ and $0.8\rm μm$ for wakefield excitation and for triggering electron injection via field ionization, respectively. A laser pulse at $2.4\rm μm$ wavelength enables one to drive an intense acceleration structure with relatively low laser power. To further reduce the requirement of laser power, we also propose to use carbon dioxide as the worki…
We report a laser wakefield acceleration of electron beams up to 130 MeV from laser-driven 4-mm long nitrogen gas jet. By using a moderate laser intensity (3.5*10^18 W.cm^(-2)) and relatively low plasma densities (0.8*10^18 cm^(-3) to 2.7*10^18 cm^(-3)) we have achieved a stable regime for laser propagation and consequently a stable generation of electron beams. We experimentally studied the dependence of the drive laser energy on the laser-plasma channel and electron beam parameters. The quality of the generated electron beams is discussed within the framework of the ionization-induced inject…
A method is proposed to generate low emittance electron bunches from two color laser pulses in a laser-plasma accelerator. A two-region gas structure is used, containing a short region of a high-Z gas (e.g., krypton) for ionization injection, followed by a longer region of a low-Z gas for post-acceleration. A long-laser-wavelength (e.g., 5 micron) pump pulse excites plasma wake without triggering the inner-shell electron ionization of the high-Z gas due to low electric fields. A short-laser-wavelength (e.g., 0.4 micron) injection pulse, located at a trapping phase of the wake, ionizes the inne…
In this work, we will show through three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations that direct laser acceleration in laser a wakefield accelerator can generate sub-femtosecond electron bunches. Two simulations were done with two laser pulse durations, such that the shortest laser pulse occupies only a fraction of the first bubble, whereas the longer pulse fills the entire first bubble. In the latter case, as the trapped electrons moved forward and interacted with the high intensity region of the laser pulse, micro-bunching occurred naturally, producing 0.5 fs electron bunches. This is not obser…
The resources needed for Particle in Cell simulations of Laser Wakefield Acceleration can be greatly reduced in many cases of interest using an envelope model. However, the inclusion of tunneling ionization in this time averaged treatment of laser-plasma acceleration is not straightforward, since the statistical features of the electron beams obtained through ionization should ideally be reproduced without resolving the high frequency laser oscillations. In this context, an extension of an already known envelope ionization procedure is proposed, valid also for laser pulses with higher intensit…
Ultra-low emittance (tens of nm) beams can be generated in a plasma accelerator using ionization injection of electrons into a wakefield. An all-optical method of beam generation uses two laser pulses of different colors. A long-wavelength drive laser pulse (with a large ponderomotive force and small peak electric field) is used to excite a large wakefield without fully ionizing a gas, and a short-wavelength injection laser pulse (with a small ponderomotive force and large peak electric field), co-propagating and delayed with respect to the pump laser, to ionize a fraction of the remaining bou…
An experimental study on 55fs laser driven plasma accelerator using mixed gas-jet target with varying plasma density is used to identify the role of different acceleration mechanisms, viz. Direct Laser Acceleration (DLA) and wakefield. At lower electron density electron acceleration could be attributed mainly to DLA with ionization induced injection. With increase in density, increasing role of wakefield was observed leading to hybrid regime, and at densities higher than self-injection threshold, observed experimentally for He target contribution of DLA and wakefield was found to be comparable…
A formula for the ionization rate in extremely intense electromagnetic field is proposed and used for numerical study of QED (quantum-electrodynamical) cascades in noble gases in the field of two counter-propagating laser pulses. It is shown that the number of the electron-positron pairs produced in the cascade increases with the atomic number of the gas where the gas density is taken to be reversely proportional to the atomic number. While the most electrons produced in the laser pulse front are expelled by the ponderomotive force from region occupied by the strong laser field there is a smal…
We report an overall enhancement of a laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) using the ionization injection in a mixture of 0.3 % nitrogen gas in 99.7 % helium gas. Upon the interaction of 30 TW, 30 fs laser pulses with a gas jet of the above gas mixture, > 300 MeV electron beams were generated at a helium plasma densities of 3.3-8.5*10^18 cm^{-3}. Compared with the electron self-injection in pure helium gas jet, the ionization injection has led to the generation of electron beams with higher energies, higher charge, lower density threshold for trapping, and a narrower energy spread without dark …
Surfaces covered with nanostructures, such as nanowire arrays, have shown to facilitate a significantly higher absorption of laser energy as compared to flat surfaces. Due to the efficient coupling of the laser energy, highly energetic electrons are produced, which in turn can emit intense ultrafast X-ray pulses. In the present work we use full three dimensional PIC simulations to analyze the behavior of arrays of carbon nanowires $400 nm$ in diameter, irradiated by a $λ_0 = 400 nm$ laser pulse of $60 fs$ duration at FWHM and a vector potential of $a_0 = 18$. We analyze the ionization dynamics…
We demonstrate an all-optical method for controlling the transverse motion of ionization injected electron beam, by utilizing the transversely asymmetrical wakefield via adjusting the shape of the laser focal spot. When the laser spot shape is changed from the circular to the obliquely elliptic in experiment, the electron beam shape becomes from elliptic to three different shapes. The 3D-PIC simulation results agree well with experiment, and it shows the trajectories of the accelerated electrons change from undulation to helix. Such an all-optical method could be useful for convenient control …
In this work, we present temporally resolved measurements of electron numbers created at photoionization of various gases by femtosecond laser pulse at 800 nm wavelength. The experiments were conducted in $O_2$, $Xe$, $Ar$, $N_2$, $Kr$ and $CO$ at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. Elastic microwave scattering was used to directly measure the electron numbers. Numbers of electrons in the range $3*10^8$ to $3*10^{12}$ electrons were produced by the laser pulse energies 100-700 uJ. After the laser pulse, plasma decayed on the time scale varied from 1 to 40 ns depending on the gas type an…
In previous work we have shown that positive streamers in pure nitrogen can be guided by a laser-induced trail of low electron density. Here we show more detailed results from such measurements. We show the sensitivity of this laser-guiding on pressure p and found that the maximum delay between the laser pulse and voltage pulse for guiding scales with something between $1/p$ and $1/p^{2}$. We also show that when we use a narrower laser beam the laser guiding occurs less frequent and that when we move the laser beam away from the symmetry axis, guiding hardly is observed. Finally we show that l…
We propose to use a frequency doubled pulse colliding with the driving pulse at an acute angle to trigger ionization injection in a laser wakefield accelerator. This scheme effectively reduces the duration that injection occurs, thus high injection quality is obtained. Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that electron beams with energy of ~500 MeV, charge of ~40 pC, energy spread of ~1% and normalized emittance of a few millimeter milliradian can be produced by ~100 TW laser pulses. By adjusting the angle between the two pulses, the intensity of the trigger pulse and the gas do…
A new scheme for bright hard x-ray emission from laser wakefield electron accelerator is reported, where pure nitrogen gas is adopted. Intense Betatron x-ray beams are generated from ionization injected K-shell electrons of nitrogen into the accelerating wave bucket. The x-ray radiation shows synchrotron-like spectrum with total photon yield 8$\times$10$^8$/shot and $10^8$ over 110keV. In particular, the betatron hard x-ray photon yield is 10 times higher compared to the case of helium gas under the same laser parameters. Particle-in-cell simulation suggests that the enhancement of the x-ray y…
An enhanced ionization injection scheme using a tightly focused laser pulse with intensity near the ionization potential to trigger the injection process in a mismatched pre-plasma channel has been proposed and examined via multi-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. The core idea of the proposed scheme is to lower the energy spread of trapped beams by shortening the injection distance. We have established theory to precisely predict the injection distance, as well as the ionization degree of injection atoms/ions, electron yield and ionized charge. We have found relation between injection …
