Linear theory of resonance self-modulation of an intense laser pulse in homogeneous plasma and plasma channels

Author

Andreev, N.E. ; Kirsanov, V.I. ; Gorbunov, L.M. ; Sakharov, A.S.

Author_Institution

High Energy Density Res. Center, Acad. of Sci., Moscow, Russia

Volume

24

Issue

2

fYear

1996

fDate

4/1/1996 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

363

Lastpage

369

Abstract

The analytical solutions describing the linear stage of the intense-laser-pulse self-modulation, which results in a strong plasma wakefield excitation, are studied in terms of the paraxial approximation. The attention is focused on phase relations that were ignored in the previous studies. It is shown that the value of the phase velocity of the plasma wake wave differs from the pulse group velocity so that under some specific conditions, the relativistic factor corresponding to the phase velocity can be substantially less than that for the group velocity. This may be important for the particle acceleration in the self-modulated laser wakefield accelerator

Keywords

collective accelerators; optical modulation; plasma devices; plasma light propagation; wakefield accelerators; analytical solutions; homogeneous plasma; intense laser pulse; linear theory; paraxial approximation; particle acceleration; phase relations; phase velocity; plasma channels; plasma wake wave; plasma wakefield excitation; relativistic factor; resonance self-modulation; self-modulated laser wakefield accelerator; Frequency; Laser excitation; Laser theory; Optical pulses; Particle accelerators; Plasma accelerators; Plasma properties; Plasma waves; Pulse modulation; Resonance;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0093-3813

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/27.510000

Filename

510000