Backward terahertz radiation from intense laser-solid interactions.

We report a systematic study on backward terahertz (THz) radiation generation from laser-solid interactions by changing a variety of laser/plasma parameters. We demonstrate a high-energy (with an energy flux density reaching 80 µJ/sr), broadband (>10 THz) plasma-based radiation source. The radiation energy is mainly distributed either in the >10 THz or <3 THz regions. A radial surface current formed by the lateral transport of low-energy electrons (LEE) is believed to be responsible for the radiation in the high-THz region (>10 THz), while high-energy surface fast electrons (SFE) accelerated along the target surface mainly contribute to lower frequency (<3 THz) radiation. The unifying explanation could be applied to backward THz radiation generation from solid targets with presence of relative small preplasmas.

Demonstration of Coherent Terahertz Transition Radiation from Relativistic Laser-Solid Interactions.

Coherent transition radiation in the terahertz (THz) region with energies of sub-mJ/pulse has been demonstrated by relativistic laser-driven electron beams crossing the solid-vacuum boundary. Targets including mass-limited foils and layered metal-plastic targets are used to verify the radiation mechanism and characterize the radiation properties. Observations of THz emissions as a function of target parameters agree well with the formation-zone and diffraction model of transition radiation. Particle-in-cell simulations also well reproduce the observed characteristics of THz emissions. The present THz transition radiation enables not only a potential tabletop brilliant THz source, but also a novel noninvasive diagnostic for fast electron generation and transport in laser-plasma interactions.

Highly efficient generation of GV/m-level terahertz pulses from intense femtosecond laser-foil interactions.

The terahertz radiation from ultraintense laser-produced plasmas has aroused increasing attention recently as a promising approach toward strong terahertz sources. Here, we present the highly efficient production of millijoule-level terahertz pulses, from the rear side of a metal foil irradiated by a 10-TW femtosecond laser pulse. By characterizing the terahertz and electron emission in combination with particle-in-cell simulations, the physical reasons behind the efficient terahertz generation are discussed. The resulting focused terahertz electric field strength reaches over 2 GV/m, which is justified by experiments on terahertz strong-field-driven nonlinearity in semiconductors.

A non-collinear autocorrelator for single-shot characterization of ultrabroadband terahertz pulses.

Conventional terahertz (THz) waveform or spectral diagnostics mainly employ the electro-optic-based techniques or the multi-shot Michelson interferometer. Simultaneously, single-shot, ultrabroadband THz spectral measurements remain challenging. In this paper, a novel probe-free scheme based on the non-collinear autocorrelation technique is proposed to characterize the ultrabroadband THz spectrum at a single-shot mode. The non-collinear autocorrelator is a modified beam-division interferometer, in which the two beams are recombined non-collinearly onto a camera. The temporal or spectral resolution and range depend on the noncollinear configuration and camera parameters. This simple approach has been applied experimentally to characterize the ultrashort THz pulse generated from ultraintense laser-solid interactions, demonstrating the capability of single-shot ultrabroadband measurements without an auxiliary ultrafast laser probe. The proposed non-collinear autocorrelator here would be much useful for characterization and applications of low-repetition-rate intense THz sources and could also be extended to other frequency bands.

Two-dimensional monitoring of a laser-solid x-ray source spot via penumbral coded aperture imaging technique.

The uncertainties of spot size and position need to be clarified for x-ray sources as they can affect the detecting precision of the x-ray probe beam in applications such as radiography. In particular, for laser-driven x-ray sources, they would be more significant as they influence the inevitable fluctuation of the driving laser pulses. Here, we have employed the penumberal coded aperture imaging technique to diagnose the two-dimensional spatial distribution of an x-ray emission source spot generated from a Cu solid target irradiated by an intense laser pulse. Taking advantage of the high detection efficiency and high spatial resolution of this technique, the x-ray source spot is characterized with a relative error of ∼5% in the full width at half maximum of the intensity profile in a single-shot mode for general laser parameters, which makes it possible to reveal the information of the unfixed spot size and position precisely. Our results show the necessity and feasibility of monitoring the spot of these novel laser-driven x-ray sources via the penumbral coded aperture imaging technique.

Laboratory Study on Disconnection Events in Comets.

When comets interacting with solar wind, straight and narrow plasma tails will be often formed. The most remarkable phenomenon of the plasma tails is the disconnection event, in which a plasma tail is uprooted from the comet's head and moves away from the comet. In this paper, the interaction process between a comet and solar wind is simulated by using a laser-driven plasma cloud to hit a cylinder obstacle. A disconnected plasma tail is observed behind the obstacle by optical shadowgraphy and interferometry. Our particle-in-cell simulations show that the difference in thermal velocity between ions and electrons induces an electrostatic field behind the obstacle. This field can lead to the convergence of ions to the central region, resulting in a disconnected plasma tail. This electrostatic-field-induced model may be a possible explanation for the disconnection events of cometary tails.

Quasi-steady-state air plasma channel produced by a femtosecond laser pulse sequence.

A long air plasma channel can be formed by filamentation of intense femtosecond laser pulses. However, the lifetime of the plasma channel produced by a single femtosecond laser pulse is too short (only a few nanoseconds) for many potential applications based on the conductivity of the plasma channel. Therefore, prolonging the lifetime of the plasma channel is one of the key challenges in the research of femtosecond laser filamentation. In this study, a unique femtosecond laser source was developed to produce a high-quality femtosecond laser pulse sequence with an interval of 2.9 ns and a uniformly distributed single-pulse energy. The metre scale quasi-steady-state plasma channel with a 60-80 ns lifetime was formed by such pulse sequences in air. The simulation study for filamentation of dual femtosecond pulses indicated that the plasma channel left by the previous pulse was weakly affected the filamentation of the next pulse in sequence under our experimental conditions.