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Self-phase modulation of a laser in self created plasma channel

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 March 2009

A. Panwar  and
A.K. Sharma
A. Panwar*
Affiliation:
Center for Energy Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India
A.K. Sharma
Affiliation:
Center for Energy Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Anuraj Panwar, Center for Energy Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi-110016, India. E-mail: anurajpanwar@rediffmail.com
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Abstract

An analytical formalism of self focusing and self-phase modulation of an intense short pulse laser in a plasma due to relativistic and ponderomotive nonlinearities is developed. In the paraxial ray approximation, the pulse retains its Gaussian radial profile, however, its spot size varies with the distance of propagation in a periodic manner. It is influenced by self focusing. The frequency of the laser undergoes red shift. For a tanhyperbolic temporal profile of pulse, the red-shift is maximum at the foot of the pulse and decreases slowly as one goes to higher and higher intensity portions. The effect of ponderomotive nonlinearity is very significant in this respect. The maximum downshift occurs at a distance at which the laser acquires a minimum spot size. With retarded time normalized axial intensity increases more at z ~ Rd and the radial intensity is also more narrowly peaked at z ~ Rd, where Rd = 2π r02/λ is the Rayleigh length, r0 and λ are the spot size and wavelength of the laser pulse respectively.

Keywords

Self-focusingSelf-phase modulationRelativistic mass nonlinearityPonderomotive nonlinearity
Type
Research Article
Information
Laser and Particle Beams , Volume 27 , Issue 2 , June 2009 , pp. 249 - 253
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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