Effect of Femtosecond Prepulse with Threshold Intensity for Optical Field Ionization on Electron Acceleration and Propagation of Intense Laser Pulse in Plasma

概要

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The effect of a prepulse with femtosecond duration, which precedes an intense laser pulse by 4 ns, on electron acceleration and propagation of an intense laser pulse in a plasma is investigated using a helium gas jet. When the prepulse intensity exceeds $10^{15}$ W/cm2, which is close to the threshold intensity for optical field ionization of helium, the maximum energy and number of accelerated electrons are significantly reduced. In addition, the amplitude of the plasma wave is relatively small, and the propagation length of the laser pulse is short. These results suggest that the preformed plasma produced by the femtosecond prepulse affects the electron acceleration and laser propagation. To investigate the effects of a preformed plasma, two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations are carried out. The simulation results support the experimental results.
Published by the Japan Society of Applied Physics through the Institute of Pure and Applied Physicsの論文
2010-09-25