Powerful laser-produced quasi-half-cycle THz pulses

TL;DR

This paper presents a new analytical and simulation-based approach to understanding the generation and propagation of powerful, broadband, half-cycle THz pulses produced by laser interactions with high-conductivity targets, advancing the theoretical and practical knowledge of transition radiation.

Contribution

It provides an analytical 3D solution for THz transition radiation wave shape at arbitrary distances, complemented by FDTD simulations, enhancing understanding of laser-produced half-cycle THz pulses.

Findings

Analytical solution describes THz wave shape near the target surface.

FDTD simulations enable wider spatial domain analysis.

Results shed light on electron bunch and THz field interference in laser-plasma interactions.

Abstract

The Maxwell equations based 3D analytical solution for the terahertz half-cycle electromagnetic wave transition radiation pulse has been found. This solution describes generation and propagation of transition radiation into free space from laser-produced relativistic electron bunch crossing a target-vacuum interface as a result of ultrashort laser pulse interaction with a thin high-conductivity target. The analytical solution found complements the theory of laser initiated transition radiation by describing the generated THz wave shape at the arbitrary distance from the generating target surface domain including near-field zone rather than the standard far-field characterization. The analytical research has also been supplemented with the 3D simulations using the finite-diference time-domain (FDTD) method, which makes it possible for description of much wider spatial domain as compared to that from the particle-in-cell (PIC) approach. The results reported fundamentally shed light on the interfere of an electron bunch field and THz field of broadband transition radiation from laser-plasma interaction studied for a long time in the experiments with solid density plasma and may in future inspire them to targeted measurements and investigations of unique super intense half-cycle THz radiation waves near the laser target.