Harmonic generation by an intense laser pulse in neutral and ionized gases

Author

Liu, X. ; Umstadter, D. ; Esarey, E. ; Ting, A.

Author_Institution

Center for Ultrafast Opt. Sci., Michigan Univ., Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Volume

21

Issue

1

fYear

1993

fDate

2/1/1993 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

90

Lastpage

94

Abstract

Reported are the results of a harmonic generation experiment in a simple gas (hydrogen) using 1-ps, 1-μm laser pulses with a range of intensities extending from below to far above the laser ionization saturation threshold. The scaling with intensity above saturation of the third harmonic generated by a single laser-pulse in a filled gas cell is observed not to fit with a simple model that takes into consideration volume ionization effects alone. In another experiment, a pump-probe type, an upper limit on the conversion efficiency of third-harmonic generation in a preformed plasma is determined. It is found to be in agreement with the efficiency predicted by a relativistic harmonic generation theory

Keywords

hydrogen; light propagation in plasma; optical harmonic generation; plasma production and heating by laser beam; 1 micron; 1 ps; conversion efficiency; harmonic generation experiment; intense laser pulse; ionized gases; laser ionization saturation threshold; neutral gases; pump-probe experiments; relativistic harmonic generation theory; scaling; volume ionization effects; Free electron lasers; Frequency conversion; Gas lasers; Gases; Hydrogen; Ionization; Laser theory; Optical harmonic generation; Optical pulse generation; Plasmas;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0093-3813

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/27.221106

Filename

221106