Anomalous transmission of intense CO2-laser radiation through an overdense plasma

An ultradense (greater than 10 to the 19th power electrons per cu cm) low-temperature (about 20 eV), Z-pinch plasma has been used for CO2-laser-plasma interaction experiments at 10.6 microns. Anomalous transmission of radially incident, intense (about 100 GW /sq cm) laser radiation of 38 nsec full w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 1978-03, Vol.40, p.649-652
Main Authors: Rockett, P D, Steel, D G, ACKENHUSEN, J G, Bach, D R
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:An ultradense (greater than 10 to the 19th power electrons per cu cm) low-temperature (about 20 eV), Z-pinch plasma has been used for CO2-laser-plasma interaction experiments at 10.6 microns. Anomalous transmission of radially incident, intense (about 100 GW /sq cm) laser radiation of 38 nsec full width at half-maximum has been observed to occur through the initially overdense plasma. The ratio of electron quiver velocity to electron thermal velocity is calculated to be approximately 0.9 at the critical surface, where holographic interferometry shows critical density scale lengths of 70 to 200 microns. The transmitted beam shows increased temporal modulation and a periodic spatial structure resembling Fresnel rings.
ISSN:0031-9007
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.40.649