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

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.