Relativistic generation of isolated attosecond pulses: a different route to extreme intensity

Abstract

Isolated attosecond pulses and electron buncht-s can be efficiently yeiif rated in the interaction of intense lasers with pliismn in the confined voliiine of the }? regime. Scaling with intensitj' is found m improve pulse hre\ ity and focusabilit>-greatly vvhile the efficiency of the attoseeond pulse generation continues to remain high. Practical consideration of the tools needed to generate such pulses indicates that sueh interactions are surprisingly accessible. We mention some introductory experiments whereby we may verify the theoretical predictions of this new class of attosecond pulses. This techni(.|ue may enable us to reach the Schwinger intensity 10^''Wcm~ .

Relativistic high-power laser–matter interactions

“…Many problems, like synchronization, still remain to be solved if this proposal is to work. [37]. Reprinted with permission from [37]; Copyright 2005 by the Taylor & Francis Ltd.; web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals.…”

“…That intensity does not seem to be reachable in the near future, although there are proposals for experimental setups to achieve this fantastic goal [35][36][37][38][39]389]. Energy-momentum conservation rules out pair-production from a single photon.…”

“…Another idea has been proposed by the Mourou group. They have recently shown via numerical simulations that it would be possible to efficiently generate isolated attosecond pulses [37] (see Fig. 2) and electron bunches [38] in the relativistic interaction of an intense, very short, and tightly focused laser pulse ( 3 -regime) with an overdense plasma surface.…”

“…Examples include molecules [281][282][283], clusters [233,[284][285][286][287][288], solids [289], underdense plasmas [2][3][4][5], and overdense plasmas [231,290]. In the past few years the field of relativistic laser-plasma interactions has seen rapid development [5,19,21,[35][36][37][38][39]231], with a number of new phenomena discovered such as relativistic self-channeling and self-guiding, magnetic field self-generation, electron acceleration by wakefields in the bubble regime, ion acceleration via strong laser pulse interaction with thin foils, and nuclear reactions (the latter is discussed in Section 7.2). We do not intend to review the field of relativistic laser-plasma interactions here.…”

Experimental Observations of the Relativistic Deflection of Light

“…In the relativistic X3 regime, isolated attosecond pulses can be efficiently formed through relativistic reflection, deflection, and compression[l,2]. Particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations show that attosecond pulses are formed for different plasma profiles, and the compressed pulse durations scale inversely with driving field strength [3].The extreme spatial and temporal gradients achieved through 3 focusing enhance the mechanism for relativistic deflection and compression. The short pulse duration minimizes instabilities, while the tight focusing provides the strongest slopes in the plasma density, deflecting subsequent half-cycles of the driving radiation into unique nonspecular directions.…”