TY - JOUR
T1 - Intense laser pulse amplification using Raman backscatter in plasma channels
AU - Mardahl, P.
AU - Lee, H. J.
AU - Penn, G.
AU - Wurtele, J. S.
AU - Fisch, N. J.
PY - 2002/4/15
Y1 - 2002/4/15
N2 - It has been proposed that the Raman backscatter interaction in a plasma can be used to amplify ultra-intense laser pulses. To accomplish this, energy is transferred from a long drive pulse at frequency wpump to an intense seed pulse at frequency wseed, with a Langmuir plasma wave at frequency wp mediating the transfer; the frequencies are chosen to satisfy the resonant condition wp = wpump - wseed. Diffraction of the pulses limits the interaction length in a uniform plasma, and hence the energy transfer between the pulses. However in a parabolic plasma density channel it is shown, through two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, that such a plasma channel can be used to guide both the amplified and drive pulses over an interaction distance much greater than a diffraction length. The seed pulse is amplified by a factor of more than 200 in energy for pulses whose widths are matched to the channel size, and achieve a peak intensity of more than 6 × 1017 W/cm2. Unmatched pump pulses are seen to generate much smaller gain.
AB - It has been proposed that the Raman backscatter interaction in a plasma can be used to amplify ultra-intense laser pulses. To accomplish this, energy is transferred from a long drive pulse at frequency wpump to an intense seed pulse at frequency wseed, with a Langmuir plasma wave at frequency wp mediating the transfer; the frequencies are chosen to satisfy the resonant condition wp = wpump - wseed. Diffraction of the pulses limits the interaction length in a uniform plasma, and hence the energy transfer between the pulses. However in a parabolic plasma density channel it is shown, through two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, that such a plasma channel can be used to guide both the amplified and drive pulses over an interaction distance much greater than a diffraction length. The seed pulse is amplified by a factor of more than 200 in energy for pulses whose widths are matched to the channel size, and achieve a peak intensity of more than 6 × 1017 W/cm2. Unmatched pump pulses are seen to generate much smaller gain.
KW - Laser
KW - Plasma
KW - Raman backscatter
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U2 - 10.1016/S0375-9601(02)00194-9
DO - 10.1016/S0375-9601(02)00194-9
M3 - Comment/debate
AN - SCOPUS:0037091245
VL - 296
SP - 109
EP - 116
JO - Physics Letters, Section A: General, Atomic and Solid State Physics
JF - Physics Letters, Section A: General, Atomic and Solid State Physics
SN - 0375-9601
IS - 2-3
ER -