Laser-driven plasma waves in capillary tubes

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the first successful excitation of long plasma waves in hydrogen-filled capillary tubes using laser guiding, with spectral analysis confirming the results and simulations indicating high accelerating fields.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method of exciting plasma waves over 8 centimeters in capillary tubes using laser guiding, supported by spectral diagnostics and simulations.

Findings

Plasma waves excited over 8 cm length

Spectral redshift correlates with pressure and laser energy

Accelerating fields estimated between 1-10 GV/m

Abstract

The excitation of plasma waves over a length of up to 8 centimeters is, for the first time, demon- strated using laser guiding of intense laser pulses through hydrogen filled glass capillary tubes. The plasma waves are diagnosed by spectral analysis of the transmitted laser radiation. The dependence of the spectral redshift, measured as a function of filling pressure, capillary tube length and incident laser energy, is in excellent agreement with simulation results. The longitudinal accelerating field inferred from the simulations is in the range 1 -10 GV/m.