Propagation of intense laser pulses in plasma with a prepared phase-space distribution

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Gupta, Devki N. and Yoffe, Samuel R. and Jain, Arohi and Ersfeld, Bernhard and Jaroszynski, Dino A. (2022) Propagation of intense laser pulses in plasma with a prepared phase-space distribution. Scientific Reports, 12 (1). 20368. ISSN 2045-2322 (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-24664-x)

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Abstract

Optimizing the laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA) requires control of the intense driving laser pulse and its stable propagation. This is usually challenging because of mode mismatching arising from relativistic self-focusing, which invariably alters the velocity and shape of the laser pulse. Here we show how an intense pre-pulse can prepare the momentum/density phase-space distribution of plasma electrons encountered by a trailing laser pulse to control its propagation. This can also be used to minimize the evolution of the wakefield thus enhancing the stability of the LWFA, which is important for applications.

ORCID iDs

Gupta, Devki N., Yoffe, Samuel R. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6723-4990, Jain, Arohi, Ersfeld, Bernhard ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5597-9429 and Jaroszynski, Dino A. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3006-5492;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)