
Excitation of plasma density perturbations by an initially bi-color laser pulse helps to control nonlinear refraction in the plasma and enables various types of laser self-guiding. In this report we consider a setup that not only makes possible the transport of laser energy over cm-long relatively dense plasmas (n_0 = 10^{18} cm^{−3}) but also transforms the pulse into the unique format inaccessible to the conventional amplification techniques (relativistically intense periodic trains of few-cycle spikes). This well focusable pulse train is a novel light source interesting for ultra-fast high-field science applications. The opposite case of suppression of nonlinear self-focusing and dynamical self-guiding of an over-critical multi-frequency pulse is proposed for the proof-of-principle experimental study.
- Relativistic self-focusing,
- relativistic Langmuir wave,
- plasma-wave-induced nonlinear refraction,
- trains of a few-cycle relativistically intense electromagnetic pulses,
- nonlinear plasma lens
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/serguei_kalmykov/27/