Investigation of ultraintense femtosecond laser-plasma interactions through omega and 2 omega imaging and spectroscopy

Year: 2001

Authors: Galimberti M., Giulietti A., Giulietti D., Gizzi L.A., Balcou P., Rousse A., Rousseau J.P.H.

Autors Affiliation: CNR, Ist Fis Atom & Mol, Intense Laser Irradiat Lab, Area Ric, I-56124 Pisa, Italy;
Univ Pisa, Sez INFM, Dipartimento Fis, I-56100 Pisa, Italy;
Ist Nazl Fis Nucl, Sez Pisa, Pisa, Italy;
Ecole Polytech, CNRS, Unite Mixte Rech 7639, ENSTA Lab Opt Appl, F-91761 Palaiseau, France

Abstract: A laser-plasma interaction experiment was performed in order to match effective conditions for wake-field electron acceleration. A 30-fs pulse was made to interact with a preformed plasma generated via the exploding foil technique from a 1-mum-thick plastic film. The irradiance of the femtosecond pulse in the plasma was 10(20) Wcm(-2). The interaction conditions were investigated via imaging and spectroscopy at the fundamental and the second harmonic of the laser frequency, both forward and backward. Our data clearly show that conditions suitable for electron acceleration are achieved close to the propagation axis and can be easily reproduced from shot to shot. In contrast, significant growth of instabilities occurs at the boundaries of the interaction region. These observations are consistent with a preliminary evidence of forward acceleration of high-energy electrons. Optical, X-ray, and gamma -ray data obtained for different positions of the foil target with respect to the laser focal plane further support this promising scenario.

Journal/Review: LASER AND PARTICLE BEAMS

Volume: 19 (1)      Pages from: 47  to: 53

KeyWords: laser-plasma interaction
DOI: 10.1017/S026303460119107X

Citations: 5
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