Evolution of a Plasma Waveguide Created during Relativistic-Ponderomotive Self-Channeling of an Intense Laser Pulse

Authors

• Shouyuan Chen, University of Michigan, Ann ArborFollow
• G.S. Sarkisov, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• Anatoly Maksimchuk, University of MichiganFollow
• R. Wagner, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• Donald P. Umstadter, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

3-23-1998

Comments

Published by American Physical Society. Physical Review Letters, 80, 2610-13 (1998). http://prl.aps.org. Copyright © 1998 American Physical Society. Permission to use.

Abstract

An on-axis plasma density depression channel was observed during and after the passage of a relativistically and ponderomotively self-guided laser pulse through a plasma. Optical interferometry was used to produce time-resolved plasma density distributions, revealing the formation of a plasma waveguide. These results were complemented by the guiding of a collinear trailing pulse.