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Ultra-intense attosecond pulses emitted from laser wakefields in non-uniform plasmas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 May 2013

Y. Liu ,
F.Y. Li ,
M. Zeng ,
M. Chen  and
Z.M. Sheng
Y. Liu
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory for Laser Plasmas (Ministry of Education) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
F.Y. Li
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory for Laser Plasmas (Ministry of Education) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
M. Zeng
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory for Laser Plasmas (Ministry of Education) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
M. Chen
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory for Laser Plasmas (Ministry of Education) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China Department of Mathematics, Institute of Natural Sciences, and MOE-LSC, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
Z.M. Sheng*
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory for Laser Plasmas (Ministry of Education) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China Department of Mathematics, Institute of Natural Sciences, and MOE-LSC, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Zheng-Ming Sheng, Department of Physics, Shanghai JiaoTong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Minhang, Shanghai 200240, China. E-mail: zmsheng@sjtu.edu.cn
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Abstract

A scheme of generating ultra-intense attosecond pulses in ultra-relativistic laser interaction with under-dense plasmas is proposed. The attosecond pulse emission is caused by an oscillating transverse current sheet formed by an electron density spike composed of trapped electrons in the laser wakefield and the residual transverse momentum of electrons left behind the laser pulse when its front is strongly modulated. As soon as the attosecond pulse emerges, it tends to feed back to further enhance the transverse electron momentum and the transverse current. Consequently, the attosecond pulse is enhanced and developed into a few cycles later until the density spike is depleted out due to the pump laser depletion. To control the formation of the transverse current sheet, a non-uniform plasma slab with an up-ramp density profile in front of a uniform region is adopted, which enables one to obtain attosecond pulses with higher amplitudes than that in a uniform plasma slab.

Keywords

Attosecond pulsesLaser wakefieldsNon-uniform plasmasResidual transverse momentum
Type
Research Article
Information
Laser and Particle Beams , Volume 31 , Issue 2 , June 2013 , pp. 233 - 238
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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