Extreme case of Faraday effect: magnetic splitting of ultrashort laser pulses in plasmas

TL;DR

This paper reports an extreme manifestation of the Faraday effect where ultrashort laser pulses split into circularly polarized components in a highly magnetized plasma, opening new avenues for optical manipulation and magnetic field measurement.

Contribution

It introduces the phenomenon of magnetic splitting of ultrashort laser pulses in plasmas, demonstrating a novel extreme case of the Faraday effect with potential applications in optical devices and magnetic field diagnostics.

Findings

Ultrashort laser pulses split into opposite circular polarizations in magnetized plasma.

This effect enables new control over ultrahigh power laser pulses.

Potential for developing plasma-based optical devices and magnetic field sensors.

Abstract

The Faraday effect, caused by a magnetic-field-induced change in the optical properties, takes place in a vast variety of systems from a single atomic layer of graphenes to huge galaxies. Currently, it plays a pivot role in many applications such as the manipulation of light and the probing of magnetic fields and material's properties. Basically, this effect causes a polarization rotation of light during its propagation along the magnetic field in a medium. Here, we report an extreme case of the Faraday effect where a linearly polarized ultrashort laser pulse splits in time into two circularly polarized pulses of opposite handedness during its propagation in a highly magnetized plasma. This offers a new degree of freedom for manipulating ultrashort and ultrahigh power laser pulses. Together with technologies of ultra-strong magnetic fields, it may pave the way for novel optical devices, such as magnetized plasma polarizers. In addition, it may offer a powerful means to measure strong magnetic fields in laser-produced plasmas.