Generation of single-cycle relativistic infrared pulses at wavelengths above 20 µm from density-tailored plasmas
Zhu, Xing-Long and Liu, Wei-Yuan and Weng, Su-Ming and Chen, Min and Sheng, Zheng-Ming and Zhang, Jie (2022) Generation of single-cycle relativistic infrared pulses at wavelengths above 20 µm from density-tailored plasmas. Matter and Radiation at Extremes, 7 (1). 014403. ISSN 2468-2047 (https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0068265)
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Abstract
Ultra-intense short-pulse light sources are powerful tools for a wide range of applications. However, relativistic short-pulse lasers are normally generated in the near-infrared regime. Here, we present a promising and efficient way to generate tunable relativistic ultrashort pulses with wavelengths above 20 µm in a density-tailored plasma. In this approach, in the first stage, an intense drive laser first excites a nonlinear wake in an underdense plasma, and its photon frequency is then downshifted via phase modulation as it propagates in the plasma wake. Subsequently, in the second stage, the drive pulse enters a lower-density plasma region so that the wake has a larger plasma cavity in which longer-wavelength infrared pulses can be produced. Numerical simulations show that the resulting near-single-cycle pulses cover a broad spectral range of 10–40 µm with a conversion efficiency of ∼2.1% (∼34 mJ pulse energy). This enables the investigation of nonlinear infrared optics in the relativistic regime and offers new possibilities for the investigation of ultrafast phenomena and physics in strong fields.
ORCID iDs
Zhu, Xing-Long, Liu, Wei-Yuan, Weng, Su-Ming, Chen, Min, Sheng, Zheng-Ming ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8823-9993 and Zhang, Jie;-
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Item type: Article ID code: 78993 Dates: DateEvent1 January 2022Published8 December 2021Published Online3 November 2021AcceptedSubjects: Science > Physics > Optics. Light Department: Faculty of Science > Physics Depositing user: Pure Administrator Date deposited: 20 Dec 2021 13:51 Last modified: 11 Nov 2024 13:20 URI: https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/78993