Transient Plasma Photonic Crystals for High-Power Lasers

Abstract

A new type of transient photonic crystals for high-power lasers is presented. The crystal is produced by counterpropagating laser beams in plasma. Trapped electrons and electrically forced ions generate a strong density grating. The lifetime of the transient photonic crystal is determined by the ballistic motion of ions. The robustness of the photonic crystal allows one to manipulate high-intensity laser pulses. The scheme of the crystal is analyzed here by 1D Vlasov simulations. Reflection or transmission of high-power laser pulses are predicted by particle-in-cell simulations. It is shown that a transient plasma photonic crystal may act as a tunable mirror for intense laser pulses. Generalizations to 2D and 3D configurations are possible.

Nonlinear dynamics of laser-generated ion-plasma gratings: A unified description

“…While early studies identifed the important role of ion nonlinearities and X-type wavebreaking in the saturation of the ion fuctuations, simplified model equations were used and the existence of a driver was not considered [4,[21][22][23]. More recent studies have emphasized the importance of the driver on the electrons, while imposing quasi neutrality for the plasma fuctuations and ballistic ions, and including electron temperature effects in an isothermal way [2,[11][12][13]. The isothermal electron response is appropriate in the limit where the transient gratings are ion-acoustic waves that can be driven to large amplitude either resonantly [6,8,9,24,25] or nonresonantly [26,27].…”

Refractive Index Seen by a Probe Beam Interacting with a Laser-Plasma System

“…There has been a recent surge of interest in using laserplasma optical systems to manipulate the basic properties of light waves [1][2][3][4]. Plasma-based photonic devices are attractive because they can be ultrafast, damageresistant, and easily tunable.…”

Envelope equation for the linear and nonlinear propagation of an electron plasma wave, including the effects of Landau damping, trapping, plasma inhomogeneity, and the change in the state of wave

“…(9). Now, in order to use Lagrange equations in an unambiguous fashion, one should use for f (x, v, t) the Klimontovitch distribution function, and θ local functions of the EPW electric field, while, for the trapped electrons, the non locality is only in u 0 and η 0 .…”

“…In particular, the density is not modulated by any ion wave, and the EPW is supposed to be the only electrostatic mode propagating in the plasma. The situation when two counterpropagating lasers would produce a transient photonic crystal [9] is, therefore, also excluded. Note, however, that Anderson localization has only been derived in the linear regime while, as discussed in the conclusion, well-known linear limitations of a first order envelope equation, such as diffraction or group velocity dispersion, may become irrelevant due to nonlinear effects.…”