Jena 2013 – scientific programme
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P: Fachverband Plasmaphysik
P 5: Laserplasmen und Quantenplasmen
P 5.3: Talk
Monday, February 25, 2013, 17:15–17:30, HS 3
Seed pulse optimization for ultra-short relativistic laser pulse generation via stimulated scattering in plasmas — •Götz Lehmann1, Granville Sewell2, and Karl-Heinz Spatschek1 — 1Heinrich-Heine Universität, 40225 Düsseldorf — 2University of Texas El Paso, El Paso, USA
Laser amplification schemes like chirped pulse amplification or optical parametric amplification are limited in intensity due to damage-threshold issues. Using underdense plasmas as amplifying medium is a promising way to circumvent these problems. Raman and Brillouin backscattering processes receive renewed interest in the context of generating ultra-intense and ultra-short laser pulses up to the exawatt-zetawatt regime. The IZEST initiative (www.int-zest.com) identified a plasma amplification stage as key technology for the next generation high-power lasers. In the proposed scenarios energy of a ps probe pulse is transferred to a fs seed pulse by scattering the pump off a plasma wave, driven by the beating of pump and seed pulse. The plasma wave can either be an electron wave (Raman scattering) or an ion wave (Brillouin scattering). While Raman and Brillouin back-scattering are well understood for monochromatic waves, the situation is less known when it comes to short pulses. This is in particular true when other effects like wave-breaking occur at the same time. Here it will be discussed how pulse forms influence the Raman and Brillouin processes, both in the linear as well as in the nonlinear regime. Results from simplified analytical models will be compared to numerical solutions obtained from general relativistic Maxwell-Vlasov simulations.