TY - JOUR

T1 - Back scattering of ultra short high intensity laser pulses from solid targets at oblique incidence

AU - Andreev, A. A.

AU - Platonov, K. Y.

AU - Salomaa, R. R.E.

PY - 2001

Y1 - 2001

N2 - Back reflection of short, intense laser pulses at oblique incidence on solid targets is explained with a model where a periodic electron density modulation acts as a diffraction grating. The pump and reflected electromagnetic waves drive through the ponderomotive force the grating and the overall system becomes parametrically unstable. The basic equations governing this system are given. A linearized stability analysis yields the instability growth rate for a homogeneous plasma and the convective gain coefficients for the inhomogeneous case. The results support the feasibility of the suggested mechanism. An absolute instability is predicted to set on a typical threshold intensity 1016 W/cm2, laser pulse length 100 fs, and spot size 30 μm. The instability is shown to saturate at a level of a few percent, because the higher harmonics in the electron density modulation turn the diffraction more diffuse thus reducing both the sustaining ponderomotive force and the back reflection coefficient.

AB - Back reflection of short, intense laser pulses at oblique incidence on solid targets is explained with a model where a periodic electron density modulation acts as a diffraction grating. The pump and reflected electromagnetic waves drive through the ponderomotive force the grating and the overall system becomes parametrically unstable. The basic equations governing this system are given. A linearized stability analysis yields the instability growth rate for a homogeneous plasma and the convective gain coefficients for the inhomogeneous case. The results support the feasibility of the suggested mechanism. An absolute instability is predicted to set on a typical threshold intensity 1016 W/cm2, laser pulse length 100 fs, and spot size 30 μm. The instability is shown to saturate at a level of a few percent, because the higher harmonics in the electron density modulation turn the diffraction more diffuse thus reducing both the sustaining ponderomotive force and the back reflection coefficient.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0034980219&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1117/12.418795

DO - 10.1117/12.418795

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:0034980219

VL - 4352

SP - 161

EP - 174

JO - Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering

JF - Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering

SN - 0277-786X

ER -