J. R. Marquès

Acceleration of injected electrons in a laser wakefield experiment

An electron plasma wave (EPW) has been excited by a short laser pulse (5 J, 400 fs) via the laser wakefield (LWF) mechanism. At the LWF quasi-resonance condition, the 3 MeV injected electrons have been accelerated with a maximum energy gain of 1.5 MeV. The maximum longitudinal electric field is estimated to be 1.5 GV/m. It has been observed that electrons deflected during the interaction, can scatter on the walls of the experimental chamber and fake a high energy signal. A special effort has been given in the electron detection to separate the accelerated electrons signal from the background noise. The experimental data are confirmed with numerical simulations, demonstrating that the energy gain is affected by the EPW radial electric field. The duration of the EPW inferred by the number of accelerated electrons and by the numerical simulations is of the order of 1–10 ps.

Spectral characteristics of ultra-short laser pulses in plasma amplifiers

Amplification of laser pulses based on the backscattering process in plasmas can be performed using either the response of an electron plasma wave or an ion-acoustic wave. However, if the pulse durations become very short and the natural spread in frequency a substantial amount of the frequency itself, the Raman and Brillouin processes start to mix. Kinetic simulations show the transition from a pure amplification regime, in this case strong-coupling Brillouin, to a regime where a considerable downshift of the frequency of the amplified pulse takes place. It is conjectured that in the case of very short pulses, multi-modes are excited which contribute to the amplification process.

Laser wakefield: Experimental study of nonlinear radial electron oscillations

The plasma electron density oscillation produced in the wake of a narrow (beam waist≪plasma wavelength) ultrashort laser pulse is measured by frequency-domain interferometry with a temporal resolution much better than the electron plasma period, and a spatial resolution across the laser focal spot. The absolute density perturbation is observed to be maximum when the pulse duration equals half the plasma period. The relative density perturbation varies from a few percent at high density to 100% at low density. For nonlinear oscillations we measure the increase of the electron plasma frequency predicted for radial oscillations [J. M. Dawson, Phys. Rev. 113, 383 (1959)]. The damping of the oscillations is observed. It is very rapid (a few periods) when the oscillation is nonlinear. Comparison with the code WAKE [P. Mora and T. M. Antonsen, Jr., Phys. Rev. E 53, R2068 (1996)] indicates that the gas ionization creates a steep radial density gradient near the edge of the focus and that the electrons oscillating...

Interaction of an ultra-intense laser pulse with a nonuniform preformed plasma

The propagation of an ultra-intense laser pulse in a preformed plasma channel was investigated experimentally. Different regimes of propagation were observed when the pulse duration was varied. For a long pulse and powers lower than the critical power for self-focusing,PL/PC<1 (I0=2×1017W/cm2), the laser pulse was guided by the preformed plasma channel over three Rayleigh lengths (4 mm) and a longitudinal plasma wave was generated by envelope self-modulation of the pulse. For a short pulse and PL/PC≫1, the interaction was dominated by self-focusing and Raman instabilities. Numerical simulations were run for the latter case, giving results comparable to the experiment. The simulations were also used to investigate the dynamics of the instabilities at high power. They showed that strong Raman side scattering first occurs at the beginning of the interaction and is then followed by self-focusing and envelope self-modulation.

Plasma-based creation of short light pulses: analysis and simulation of amplification and focusing

Plasmas can serve as damage-less optics for amplifying and focusing light pulses to very high intensity. This provides a way to overcome the limitations of solid-state optical materials as a damage threshold in the classical sense is absent. The amplification process relies on parametric processes in plasmas exploiting the coupling of transverse electromagnetic waves to a longitudinal plasma wave. The plasma response can either be an electron plasma wave (stimulated Raman scattering), an ion-acoustic wave (stimulated Brillouin scattering) or a more complicated non-resonant feature in the case of very short pulses.

Coupling between electron and ion waves in Nd‐laser beat‐wave experiments

The beating between two colinear Nd‐YLF and Nd‐YAG lasers in a homogeneous plasma generates intense relativistic plasma waves associated with a high longitudinal electric field of the order of 1 GV/m. It is shown that these electron waves couple with ion waves in the regime of modulational instability. Electric field amplitude and saturation time obtained by Thomson scattering are in agreement with theoretical predictions taking this mechanism into account.

Stimulated Raman backscattering instability in short pulse laser interaction with helium gas

Experimental and theoretical results on the stimulated Raman backscattering (SRS) reflectivity of a short laser pulse (120 fs) interaction with an optically ionized helium gas are presented. The reflectivity is measured as a function of the gas pressure from 1 to 100 Torr. A monodimensional (1‐D) theoretical model, including the refraction induced during the ionization process, describes the dependence of the SRS reflectivity with the gas pressure and explains its maximum at around 35 Torr. In the very low pressure case (<15 Torr), the radial ponderomotive force expels the electrons out of the propagation region before the laser pulse reaches its peak intensity and significantly reduces the observed reflectivity. A 1‐D hydrodynamic calculation, included in the model, describes this density depletion and a good agreement is obtained between theory and experiments in the whole range of pressures.

Non-adiabatic cluster expansion after ultrashort laser interaction

We used X-ray spectroscopy as a diagnostic tool for investigating the properties of laser-cluster interactions at the stage in which non-adiabatic cluster expansion takes place and a quasi-homogeneous plasma is produced. The experiment was carried out with a 10 TW, 65 fs Ti:Sa laser focused on CO 2 cluster jets. The effect of different laser-pulse contrast ratios and cluster concentrations was investigated. The X-ray emission associated to the Rydberg transitions allowed us to retrieve, through the density and temperature of the emitting plasma, the time after the beginning of the interaction at which the emission occurred. The comparison of this value with the estimated time for the “homogeneous” plasma formation shows that the degree of adiabaticity depends on both the cluster concentration and the pulse contrast. Interferometric measurements support the X-ray data concerning the plasma electron density.

Laser particle acceleration: beat-wave and wakefield experiments

In a plasma, some of the energy of a high-power laser beam can be transferred to a longitudinal plasma wave with a high phase velocity. This wave can in turn accelerate relativistic charged particles to very high energies. Several mechanisms have been proposed to generate these intense electric fields and some of them have already been tested experimentally. Using the beat wave method, electric fields of 1 - 10 have been produced and electrons have been accelerated with an energy gain from 1 MeV to more than 30 MeV. Some preliminary experiments have shown that electrons can be accelerated in plasma waves generated by the wakefield method. In the case of self-modulated wakefield, electric fields larger than 100 trap electrons and eject them from the plasma with an energy up to 100 MeV. The perspectives in the near future are the production of intense and short electron beams of a few MeV and the acceleration of electrons up to 1 GeV. To reach an energy of 1 TeV and get closer to the parameters required by the high-energy physicists, one will have to test some new methods to be able to guide the laser beam over large distances.

Novel alignment techniques used in multiphoton ionization experiments for laser plasma beat wave

This paper describes the techniques used to create a fully ionized plasma by the multiphoton ionization of gases at pressures of a few Torr to give an initial electron density precision of better than a few percent, necessary for beat‐wave experiments. A gas containment vessel has been constructed using high vacuum techniques with a temperature control system to maintain the fill gas pressure constant. Novel alignment techniques are used that do not require an alignment target placed in the vessel. This involves the use of a rotating pencil beam to determine the focusing of the optics.