Short Intense Laser Pulse Collapse in Near-Critical Plasma

F. Sylla, A. Flacco, S. Kahaly, M. Veltcheva, A. Lifschitz, V. Malka, E. d'Humieres, I. Andriyash, V. Tikhonchuk

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

It is observed that the interaction of an intense ultrashort laser pulse with a near-critical gas jet results in the pulse collapse and the deposition of a significant fraction of the energy. This deposition happens in a small and well-localized volume in the rising part of the gas jet, where the electrons are efficiently accelerated and heated. A collisionless plasma expansion over similar to 150 mu m at a subrelativistic velocity (similar to c/3) has been optically monitored in time and space, and attributed to the quasistatic field ionization of the gas associated with the hot electron current. Numerical simulations in good agreement with the observations suggest the acceleration in the collapse region of relativistic electrons, along with the excitation of a sizable magnetic dipole that sustains the electron current over several picoseconds. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.085001

Original languageEnglish
Article number085001
Number of pages5
JournalPhysical review letters
Volume110
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - 19 Feb 2013

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Physics and Astronomy

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