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Session CO2 - Laser Accelerators; Ultraintense Laser Applications.
ORAL session, Monday afternoon, November 15
Room 203, SCC

[CO2.005] Efficient end-pumped plasma waveguide generation in clustered argon and hydrogen

V. Kumarappan, J. Liu, K.-Y. Kim, H. M. Milchberg (Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland at College Park, MD 20742)

Generation of plasma waveguides in clustered gases is a promising new method for generating low density plasma waveguides for applications like laser wakefield acceleration. Strong absorption and self-guiding of moderate energy femtosecond pulses by a clustered medium [1] allows end-pumping of the channel. The experimental setup is considerably simpler than in side-pumping schemes. Argon and hydrogen clusters were produced using liquid-nitrogen-cooled pulsed nozzles. Waveguides were generated using 100 fs pulses, and the evolution of the plasma channel was recorded using transverse interferometry. The extent of ionization produced by an intense guided pulse was studied by measuring its transmitted spectrum for both argon and hydrogen plasma waveguides. The guided intensity and coupling efficiency, measured using end-mode imaging, were found to be \sim3x10^17 Wcm-2 and \sim50% respectively.

1. I. Alexeev, T. Antonsen, K. Y. Kim, and H. M. Milchberg, Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 103402 (2003).

Part C of program listing