Laser-plasma interaction properties through second harmonic generation

Abstract

An experimental analysis is conducted to visualize sidescattered second harmonic spectra originating from the critical surface of a plasma produced from a 1,064-nm laser beam. It is shown that longitudinal and transverse wave-scattering mechanisms producing the second harmonic may also alter the local plasma parameters. These irregular plasma parameter variations and the perturbed spatial uniformity of the incident laser beam can, in turn, be visualized through the second harmonic behavior. This work confirms the origin of the second harmonic production in an inhomogeneous plasma. Time evolution of the optical density of this harmonic showed spectral shifts due to the Doppler effect related to the critical surface dynamics. On the time-integrated spectra, shifted secondary peaks have been observed, indicating that the second harmonic takes its origin also from parametric decay as well as electron decay instability. Other properties of the interaction physics are deduced from the present second harmonic study.

Optical second-and third harmonic radiation generation in a laser-produced plasma

“…An efficiency of thirdharmonic generation process up to 1.7 × 10 −3 is achieved with 1 kHz laser pulses. Abdelli et al [25] experimentally analyzed the side-scattered second-harmonic spectra originating from the critical surface of a plasma produced by a 1064 nm laser beam.…”

Wakefield generation and electron acceleration by intense super-Gaussian laser pulses propagating in plasma

“…Interaction of high power laser fields with ionized plasma can be utilized for a number of applications including laserinduced fusion (Deutsch et al, 1996;Hora, 2004), highharmonic generation (Abdelli et al, 1992;Nuzzo et al, 2000;Salih et al, 2004;Jha et al, 2004), laser-plasma channeling (Sullivan et al, 1994;Monot et al, 1995), and laserplasma acceleration (Faure et al, 2006;Esirkepov et al, 2006). For charged particles to reach high energies, electric fields must act on them over extended distances.…”