Observation of plasma density dependence of electromagnetic soliton excitation by an intense laser pulse

The experimental evidence of the correlation between the initial electron density of the plasma and electromagnetic soliton excitation at the wake of an intense (1019 W/cm2) and short (1 ps) laser pulse is presented. The spatial distribution of the solitons, together with their late time evolution into post-solitons, is found to be dependent upon the background plasma parameters, in agreement with published analytical and numerical findings. The measured temporal evolution and electrostatic field distribution of the structures are consistent with their late time evolution and the occurrence of multiple merging of neighboring post-solitons.

[1]  W. Kruer,et al.  The Physics of Laser Plasma Interactions , 2019 .

[2]  O Willi,et al.  Observation of magnetized soliton remnants in the wake of intense laser pulse propagation through plasmas. , 2010, Physical review letters.

[3]  P. Norreys,et al.  Observation of postsoliton expansion following laser propagation through an underdense plasma. , 2010, Physical review letters.

[4]  Marco Borghesi,et al.  The application of laser-driven proton beams to the radiography of intense laser–hohlraum interactions , 2010 .

[5]  V. Tikhonchuk,et al.  Coherent forward stimulated-brillouin scattering of a spatially incoherent laser beam in a plasma and its effect on beam spray. , 2008, Physical review letters.

[6]  A. Sen,et al.  Stability of nonlinear one-dimensional laser pulse solitons in a plasma , 2007, 0809.1956.

[7]  M. Borghesi,et al.  Dynamics of charge-displacement channeling in intense laser–plasma interactions , 2007 .

[8]  G. Lehmann,et al.  Stability and evolution of one-dimensional relativistic solitons on the ion time scale , 2006 .

[9]  K. Nakamura,et al.  GeV electron beams from a centimetre-scale accelerator , 2006 .

[10]  O Willi,et al.  Multi-MeV proton source investigations in ultraintense laser-foil interactions. , 2004, Physical review letters.

[11]  D. Neely,et al.  The effect of high intensity laser propagation instabilities on channel formation in underdense plasmas , 2003 .

[12]  S. V. Bulanov,et al.  Three-dimensional relativistic electromagnetic subcycle solitons. , 2002, Physical review letters.

[13]  F. Pegoraro,et al.  Stability of a mass accreting shell expanding in a plasma. , 2002, Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics.

[14]  S. V. Bulanov,et al.  Formation of Electromagnetic Postsolitons in Plasmas , 2001 .

[15]  D. H. Campbell,et al.  Macroscopic evidence of soliton formation in multiterawatt laser-plasma interaction. , 2001, Physical review letters.

[16]  K. Nishihara,et al.  Generation of subcycle relativistic solitons by super intense laser pulses in plasmas , 2001 .

[17]  J. Dempsey,et al.  Validation of a precision radiochromic film dosimetry system for quantitative two-dimensional imaging of acute exposure dose distributions. , 2000, Medical physics.

[18]  S. V. Bulanov,et al.  SOLITONLIKE ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES BEHIND A SUPERINTENSE LASER PULSE IN A PLASMA , 1999 .

[19]  Michael H. Key,et al.  Well characterized 1019W cm2 operation of VULCAN—an ultra-high power Nd:glass laser , 1998 .

[20]  Michael D. Perry,et al.  Ignition and high gain with ultrapowerful lasers , 1994 .

[21]  S. V. Bulanov,et al.  Nonlinear depletion of ultrashort and relativistically strong laser pulses in an underdense plasma , 1992 .

[22]  Y. Zel’dovich,et al.  Gas Dynamics. (Book Reviews: Physics of Shock Waves and High-Temperature Hydrodynamic Phenomena. Vol. 1) , 1970 .

[23]  E. M. Lifshitz,et al.  Electrodynamics of continuous media , 1961 .

[24]  S. M. Osovets,et al.  On the mechanism by which the current contracts in fast and intense gas discharge , 1956 .