Results are presented from analytical study and particle-in-cell simulations of the interaction of ultrashort petawatt laser pulses with underdense plasmas. It is shown that this interaction exhibits effects typical of the interaction of moderate-power pulses with overdense plasmas. The results obtained demonstrate relativistic self-focusing, the formation of a vacuum channel in a plasma, excitation of a superstrong longitudinal electric field, acceleration of ions and electrons up to ultrarelativistic energies, and generation of a quasistatic magnetic field. The generation of relativistic electromagnetic solitons is demonstrated. It is shown that a significant part of the laser-pulse energy is transformed into the energy of these solitons. The space and time dependences of the fields inside the solitons are found to agree with our analytical description.
Interaction of petawatt laser pulses with underdense plasmas
CALIFANO, FRANCESCO;PEGORARO, FRANCESCO
1999-01-01
Abstract
Results are presented from analytical study and particle-in-cell simulations of the interaction of ultrashort petawatt laser pulses with underdense plasmas. It is shown that this interaction exhibits effects typical of the interaction of moderate-power pulses with overdense plasmas. The results obtained demonstrate relativistic self-focusing, the formation of a vacuum channel in a plasma, excitation of a superstrong longitudinal electric field, acceleration of ions and electrons up to ultrarelativistic energies, and generation of a quasistatic magnetic field. The generation of relativistic electromagnetic solitons is demonstrated. It is shown that a significant part of the laser-pulse energy is transformed into the energy of these solitons. The space and time dependences of the fields inside the solitons are found to agree with our analytical description.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
