Guiding of high-intensity laser pulses in 100-mm-long hydrodynamic optical-field-ionized plasma channels



Picksley, A, Alejo, A, Cowley, J, Bourgeois, N, Corner, L ORCID: 0000-0002-3882-1272, Feder, L, Holloway, J, Jones, H, Jonnerby, J, Milchberg, HM
et al (show 4 more authors) (2020) Guiding of high-intensity laser pulses in 100-mm-long hydrodynamic optical-field-ionized plasma channels. PHYSICAL REVIEW ACCELERATORS AND BEAMS, 23 (8). 081303-.

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Abstract

Hydrodynamic optically-field-ionized (HOFI) plasma channels up to 100mm long are investigated. Optical guiding is demonstrated of laser pulses with a peak input intensity of $6\times10^{17}$ W cm$^{-2}$ through 100mm long plasma channels with on-axis densities measured interferometrically to be as low as $n_{e0} = (1.0\pm0.3)\times10^{17}$cm$^{-3}$. Guiding is also observed at lower axial densities, which are inferred from magneto-hydrodynamic simulations to be approximately $7\times10^{16}$cm$^{-3}$. Measurements of the power attenuation lengths of the channels are shown to be in good agreement with those calculated from the measured transverse electron density profiles. To our knowledge, the plasma channels investigated in this work are the longest, and have the lowest on-axis density, of any free-standing waveguide demonstrated to guide laser pulses with intensities above $>10^{17}$ W cm$^{-2}$.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: 8 pages, 5 figures, (v2:Correction of typos in abstract)
Uncontrolled Keywords: physics.acc-ph, physics.acc-ph, physics.plasm-ph
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 10 Jun 2020 09:54
Last Modified: 18 Jan 2023 23:49
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevAccelBeams.23.081303
Open Access URL: https://journals.aps.org/prab/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevA...
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URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3089939