Focusing of Intense Laser Pulses Using Plasma Channels Richard F. Hubbard,1 Bahman Hafizi,2 Antonio Ting,1 Daniel F. Gordon,2 Theodore G. Jones,1 Dmitri Kaganovich,3 Joseph R. Penano,1 Phillip Sprangle,1 and Arie Zigler2'4 Plasma Physics Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375-5346 2 Icarus Research, Inc., P.O. Box 30780, Bethesda, MD 20824 3 LET Corp., 4431 MacArthur Boulevard., Washington, DC 20007 4 Hebrew University, Jerusalem Abstract. Short plasma channels may provide focusing or control of laser pulses at intensities far above the usual damage limitations of conventional optics. Analytical and simulation models that predict the behavior of a variety of channel lens configurations are presented. A laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA) that uses a series of plasma lenses to transport the laser pulse over extended distances is described. INTRODUCTION Plasma channels have been used to guide intense laser pulses over distances of many Rayleigh lengths [1-6]. The guiding is the result of the radial variation in the plasma refractive index. Plasma channels are an essential component of most designs for a future laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA) [7-9]. In these designs, laser and plasma parameters are usually chosen so that the laser pulse propagates at its equilibrium spot size rM. Thus, the guiding and acceleration processes are closely coupled. Any application of intense, short pulse lasers requires focusing and shaping of the pulse with conventional optical elements such as lenses, mirrors, and gratings. These optical elements must be placed at locations where the laser spot size rL is large to avoid damage to the optics. We have recently proposed that focusing or defocusing of laser pulses at much higher intensities should be possible using short plasma channels [10]. Such a lens would generally be placed close to the focus where the spot size is 100 jim or less, and the intensity is well above the usual damage limits for conventional optics. This paper reviews the plasma channel lens concept and emphasizes potential applications to laser-driven acceleration. The analysis presented here is based on envelope equation solutions derived from the source dependent expansion method [11] and simulations using the LEM code [12]. LEM is a versatile laser propagation code that employs the widely-used quasistatic and quasi-paraxial approximations and calculates the laser fields and plasma response in a frame moving with the pulse at the speed of light. The plasma is treated CP647, Advanced Accelerator Concepts: Tenth Workshop, edited by C. E. Clayton and P. Muggli © 2002 American Institute of Physics 0-7354-0102-0/02/$19.00 664 as a cold relativistic fluid. The primary quantity of interest for a lens simulation is the spot size TL(Z), which is obtained from a Gaussian fit to the laser amplitude at an appropriate reference point in the center of the pulse. This quantity reaches its minimum or focused spot size r/ at a focal distance z/. Analytical calculations for these quantities as functions of laser and plasma parameters agree well with LEM simulations [10]. The plasma channel lens is one of several plasma-based pulse control methods that have been analyzed. The others involve nonlinear effects that arise from self-phase modulation or relativistic self-focusing (RSF) at high laser intensities and are described in Ref. 13. RSF is the basis of a plasma lens proposed by Ren, et al. [14] that shares many of the features of the plasma channel lens. SIMPLE PLASMA CHANNEL LENSES This Section describes the behavior of an ideal plasma channel lens in the limit of a nonconverging beam and compares analytical focusing models with LEM simulations. Comparison of Plasma Channel Lens with Long Guiding Channel We consider first the behavior of an ideal Gaussian laser pulse propagating in a long parabolic plasma density channel of the form ne(r) = no(l + (r/rcl)2). Envelope equation models predict that the spot size rs will oscillate about its equilibrium or 'matched' value rM, given by rM=(rc2l/m-en0)l/4. (1) where re is the classical electron radius, and rci is the nominal channel radius where the plasma density is twice its on-axis value. A nonconverging pulse entering the channel with an initial spot size TQ that is larger than rM will reach its minimum spot size r/c at the focal location z/c = 7frM2/2^. If the length A of the channel is less than z/, the plasma will behave as a thick lens, with a focal length z/ and focused radius r/ that are somewhat larger than the long channel values z/c and r/c. This behavior is illustrated in Fig. 1, which plots r^(z) from the LEM simulation model for a laser pulse with TQ = 35 jim, /I = 1 jim, and PO = 1.5 TW, propagating into a channel with no = 4xl018 cm"3 and rci = 57.7 jim. The dotted curve is for propagation in a long plasma channel, while the solid curve is from a LEM simulation for a plasma channel lens with on-axis density equal to HO and nominal thickness A = 0.0375 cm. The analytical matched radius rM = 17.5 jim, corresponding to a nominal focal length z/c = 0.151 cm. The long-channel simulation gives z/c = 0.152 cm, and reaches a minimum spot size r/c of 7.48 jim. As expected, the plasma lens simulation (solid curve) gives a slightly larger focal length (z/ = 0.195 cm) and focused spot size (r/ = 18.8 jim) than the long channel simulation. The peak laser intensity on the front side of the plasma lens is SxlO1 W/cm2, which is orders of magnitude above the damage limit for conventional optics. 665 Analytical Models for Plasma Channel Lenses Reference 10 describes an analytical model that calculates r/ and z/ as functions of the laser and plasma parameters. The model is an application of the Hafizi, et al. generalized ponderomotive channeling model [15]. For a nonconverging (collimated) beam with drjdz = 0 at z = 0, the envelope equation inside the lens may be integrated to give 2r 2 cos = 1- 2A(z-z 0 ) (2) where /lp = 2nc/a>p is the plasma wavelength based on the on-axis plasma frequency (Op, Pr is the critical power for relativistic focusing [14-17], and N = (4P/7tPr)2(hp/rC2)2. If the plasma density is assumed to be zero for z - ZQ > A, then the focal spot size and focal length may be obtained by matching rs and drjdz at the end of the lens with the well-known vacuum solution expressions. This procedure is described in the Appendix of [10]. 60 6O 40 \ n0 (lens) 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 z (cm) FIGURE 1. Laser spot size rL(z) from a LEM simulations in a long plasma channel (dotted line) and a short plasma channel lens (solid line). The dashed line gives the on-axis plasma density for the lens. Laser and plasma parameters are given in the text. It is convenient to characterize the laser and plasma parameters by a normalized injection spot size po = (n/^prci)ll2r0 and normalized thickness 8 = A/Zr0 = (h/7zr02)A. If PIPr « 1, and A is sufficiently small so that the cosine term in Eq. (2) can be expanded, the focal length and spot size can be expressed as [10] 666 (3) and l-(p 0 4 -l)<5 2 1/2 (4) l + (p 0 4 -l) 2 5 2 These simple expressions are remarkably accurate even if the thin lens approximation is breaking down or PIPr approaches unity. Comparison of Analytical Models with Simulation The solid line in the left frame of Fig. 2 plots r/ as a function of the lens thickness A using Eq. (4). The other laser parameters (ro = 35 jim, A = 1 jim, and PQ = 1.5 TW) and plasma parameters (no = 4xl018 cm"3 and rcl = 57.7 jim.) are the same as in Fig. 1. The normalized injection spot size po is 2.00, and ZRQ = 0.385 cm in all cases. The focused spot size r/ always decreases with increasing A. The corresponding focusing distance z/ from Eq. (3) is shown in the right frame. The dashed lines in the two figures are calculated from the thick lens model described in the Appendix of Ref. 10, and the asterisks are LEM simulation results 0.25 40 0.20 30 8o °-15 20 7 0.10 10 0.05 0.00 0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.10 A (cm) 0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.10 A (cm) FIGURE 2. Laser focusing model results for (a) focal spot size r/ and (b) focal length z/, as functions of the lens thickness A. Other laser and plasma parameters are the same as in Fig. 1. The solid lines are from the thin lens model, the dashed lines are the more accurate thick lens model, and the asterisks are from LEM simulations. The agreement between the simulations and the thin lens analytical model for both r/ and z/ is very good for A < 0.04 cm but becomes progressively worse as the lens thickness is increased. This is primarily due to a breakdown in the thin lens approximation; the cosine argument 2hA/hprci in Eq. (2) actually exceeds unity for A > 0.05 cm. However, the agreement between the thick lens analytical model (dashed line) and the simulations is excellent. The thickest lens simulation, with A = 0.0625 667 cm, cm, has has r/rf == 13.1 13.1 jim, µm, corresponding corresponding to to aa relatively relatively modest modest spot spot size size reduction reduction of of aa factor factorof of2.6 2.6from fromthe the35 35 jim µm value value at at injection. injection. ALTERNATIVE ALTERNATIVE PLASMA PLASMA CHANNEL CHANNEL LENS LENS CONFIGURATIONS CONFIGURATIONS The The simple simple case case of of aa single single lens lens and and aa collimated collimated or or nonconverging nonconverging beam beam isis of of limited limitedpractical practical interest interest because because intense intense laser laser pulses pulses are are already already routinely routinely focused focused to to much much smaller smaller spot spot sizes sizes that that the the 35 35 jim µm value value used used in in the the previous previous section. section. In In this this Section, Section, we we discuss discuss several several alternative alternative configurations. configurations. Figure Figure 33 shows shows four four such such configurations. configurations. (a) (a) (b) (c) | Converging Converging pulse pulse focusing lens focusing lens (d) Converging Converging pulse pulse defocusing defocusing lens lens Multi-lens Overmoded Overmoded lens lens FIGURE FIGURE3.3. Examples Examplesof ofother otherplasma plasma channel channel lens lens configurations. configurations. These These include include (a) (a) aa focusing focusing lens lens with with aa converging convergingpulse, pulse, (b) (b) aa defocusing defocusing lens lens with with aa converging converging pulse, pulse, (c) (c) aa multiple multiple lens lens transport transport system, system,and and(d) (d)aathick, thick,overmoded overmodedlens. lens. Focusing Focusing and and Defocusing Defocusing of of aa Converging Converging Optical Optical Pulse Pulse AAconverging convergingor orprefocused prefocused pulse pulse has has drjdz drL/dz << 00 and and an an injection injection spot spot size size TQr0 at at zz == 0.0. For For an an ideal ideal Gaussian Gaussian pulse pulse propagating propagating in in vacuum, vacuum, the the pulse pulse would would focus focus to to the the diffraction-limited diffraction-limited spot spot size size rjo rf0 atat the the focal focal distance distance z/0. zf0. IfIf aa plasma plasma channel channel focusing focusing lens lensisisplaced placedin inthe thepath pathof ofthe theconverging convergingpulse, pulse, both both r/rf and and z/zf will will be be reduced. reduced. This This will will increase increase the the intensity intensity and and fluence fluence of of the the laser laser pulse pulse at at the the focus. focus. The The plasma plasma channel channel thus thus enhances enhances the the focusing focusing of of an an optical optical beam beam in in aa manner manner similar similar to to that that exhibited exhibited by by plasma plasma lenses lenses for for electron electron beam beam [18]. [18]. Simulations Simulations that that exhibit exhibit this this enhanced enhanced focusing focusing are are reported reported in in Refs Refs 10 10 and and 15. 15. Because Because the the focusing focusing effect effect is is 668 approximately linear, the increase in intensity compared with the vacuum limit scales roughly as (r/o/r/)2. Reductions in spot size of more than a factor of 3 have been produced, with an order of magnitude increase in focused intensity [15]. Reference 15 also contains a generalization of the analytical model to the converging beam case where drLldz < 0 at the front of the lens. Again, the agreement between the model and LEM simulations is excellent. The most likely application of this configuration is for laser target experiments where maximum intensity or fluence is desired. This is usually not the case for laser accelerator applications since extremely small spot size is usually not necessary. In addition to a straightforward enhancement of fluence on target, a plasma channel offers the option of using a higher f-number focusing element and placing it farther from the target. Also, the plasma channel lens is tunable, making it possible to move the location of the focus without physically moving any optical element. A converging pulse with a defocusing plasma channel lens is also shown in Fig. 3. A plasma column with an on-axis density maximum will defocus an optical beam and thus can act as a diverging or negative lens. If such a short "inverse" plasma channel is placed near the vacuum focal point of an optical beam, both r/ and z/ will increase. Simulations that exhibit this behavior were reported in Ref. 10. Negative or inverse plasma channel lenses offer additional flexibility in designing intense laser pulse systems. The most obvious applications involve situations for which a larger spot size is desired than that produced by the vacuum optical system, and higher f-number optics are unavailable or impractical because of space constraints. An example would be matched injection of a laser pulse into a long plasma channel for laser wakefield accelerator or x-ray laser applications. The matched spot size in such channels is typically 20-50 jim. A LWFA with Period Focusing Lenses Figure 3 also shows an example of a multi-lens transport system with a series of weak, thin plasma channel lenses. This configuration has also been described previously [10]. If a collimated pulse enters a single thin lens of thickness A at z = 0, the laser pulse will first focus and then expand to its injected spot size TQ at z ~ 2z/. A second lens with identical plasma parameters and thickness 2A, with its center located near 2z/will slow the laser pulse expansion rate to near zero near the center of the lens, and refocus the beam to a similar focal length and spot size as the first lens. In principle, the laser pulse may be transported over arbitrarily long distances using this approach. The use of a series of thin lenses in a periodic focusing system offers the possibility of decoupling the guiding requirements from the conditions in the interaction. This could be particularly useful for a LWFA because of the difficulties in producing a single long, low-density plasma channel. For a 100 fsec (FWHM) laser pulse, the desired resonant density is 2-3xl017 cm"3, and the desired channel length exceeds 10 cm. Figure 4 shows the evolution of the spot size rL(z) and on-axis density HO(Z) from a LEM simulation of a LWFA with period focusing. The laser has YQ = 40 jim, PQ = 26 TW, /I = 0.8 jim, and TL = 100 fsec. The background plasma has a uniform density of 669 2.5xl017 cm"3. The higher density channel lenses have no = 1018, rci = 40 |im, a downstream thickness of 0.06 cm, and a spacing of 0.6 cm. The filling factor for the lenses is therefore 10%. The spot size exhibits the expected refocusing effects at each downstream lens, and the variation of spot size between the lenses is modest. No attempt was made to fine tune the transport; with modest changes in lens parameters or location, the variations in the minimum and maximum spot sizes could have been reduced. 50 40 30 20 10 0 0.0 I"! n0 (xlO 17 ) 0.5 1.0 z (cm) 1.5 2.0 FIGURE 4. Evolution of the laser spot size rL (solid line) and on-axis plasma density n0 (dashed line) in a period-focused LWFA. The plasma is assumed to have a uniform density in the region between the lenses. Parameters are given in the text. Figure 5 plots the axial (Ez) and radial (Er) electric fields near the axis versus position £ = z -ct within the pulse. The pulse location is at z = 1.5 cm, which lies in the uniform, low plasma density region after the third lens. The original head of the laser pulse is at £ = 0. Both the axial and radial fields are well-behaved and regular. Maximum acceleration occurs at £ = -70 jim, where Ez = -12 GV/m. If additional lenses were added to extend the transport to the full dephasing length (-20 cm), the LWFA performance would approach that of a similar LWFA simulation in a long axially-uniform channel that we reported previously [8]. That simulation produced energy gain that exceeded 1 GeV. Thick Plasma Channel Lenses An example of a thick lens configuration is the overmoded channel lens shown in Fig. 3. In an overmoded lens, the laser spot size rL(z) undergoes one or more complete oscillation before the pulse exits the lens. For an ideal, nonconverging pulse in a parabolic channel, the period of spot size oscillations in the channel in the channel is he = rfrulk. Thus, a lens with thickness AN = Nhe + AQ should have similar focusing properties to one with thickness AQ. Overmoded lenses have been examined in [10]. Making short plasma channels with capillary discharges has proven difficult in 670 practice, so operating in the overmoded regime may be an attractive alternative. An analysis in Ref. 10 of a previously exported capillary discharge guiding experiment by Ehrlich, et al. [5] suggests that overmoded plasma channel lens focusing has already been demonstrated experimentally. CT (cm) = 1.504 15 10 ? \ > 5 2-JH o ^ —5 -10 -15 -140 -120 -100 -80 -60 -40 -20 FIGURE 5. Electric fields Ez (solid line) and Er (dashed line) near the axis versus f = z -c£ at a location (z = 1.5 cm) beyond the third lens. Results are from the periodic-focused LWFA simulation shown in Fig. 4. Another possible application of thick plasma channel lenses is to use them as spatial filters. The radial profile of the plasma density ne(r) normally peaks at some location Rch and falls off beyond that point. Portions of the laser pulse that lie inside RCh will be guided by the channel, while those on the outside will be expelled or clipped. The channel would thus function in much the same way as a conventional spatial filter, except that the pulse intensity could be much higher for the plasma spatial filter. Another potential configuration would be to bend a thick plasma lens into an arc, thus bending the optical pulse. This has been demonstrated experimentally using longer plasma channels. The ability to introduce a slight bend in the optical pulse could be useful for a staged LWFA that has multiple pulsed drive lasers. CHANNEL CREATION TECHNIQUES The same techniques used to create long plasma channel may in principle be applied to short plasma channels. The general mechanism involved in most channel creation techniques requires the creation of a hotter plasma near the channel axis. The plasma then undergoes hydrodynamic expansion and reaches a pressure balance where the density is reduced near the channel axis. For laser-generated channels, the heating is supplied by a separate laser pulse. It may not be necessary to employ a line focus or axicon lens since the energy will need to be deposited out to a large radius, and the 671 Rayleigh length associated with the heating laser should be much smaller than the lens thickness. A gas jet would presumably be used to determine the lens thickness. A similar process is involved in capillary discharge channels except that ohmic heating of electrons by the discharge current provides the primary heating mechanism. In the typical plasma channel experiment, the channel length is two orders of magnitude larger than the channel radius or laser spot size, so radial plasma hydrodynamics dominates except near the entrance and exit of the channel. This aspect ratio is much smaller for thin plasma lenses, so the hydrodynamic behavior may be different, and edge effects are more important. In addition, there are problems with producing short discharge channels since the electrodes will be so close together. Another possible technique is to use a laser-ablated capillary in place of the discharge. Laser guiding experiments on this technique with longer channels have been carried out at NRL [19] but have not demonstrated effective guiding. It may actually be easier to employ this approach for lensing since the short capillary length is probably an advantage. Another possible approach is to tailor the neutral density rather than relying on localized heating to produce the desired plasma density profile. This could involve complicated gas jet nozzles or spinning capillaries. These options have not yet been seriously examined. Plasma channel lenses have a number of potentially attractive features in addition their tolerance of high laser intensities. The lenses can in principle be tuned to different densities, thus altering their focusing properties without moving the lens. There is the potential for very good beam quality due to the "linear" focusing properties of an ideal plasma lens. Finally, this is a versatile technology that could add significant flexibility to future high power optical systems. However, there are a number of key issues that must be resolved. There is considerable complexity involved in producing appropriate plasma channels. A practical focusing system must be highly reproducible and robust. Aberrations from relativistic effects may significantly degrade performance at high powers. The sensitivity to nonideal laser and channel profiles has not been examined yet. Finally, incomplete preionization could degrade performance, especially if the channel contains partially stripped high-Z material. SUMMARY A short plasma channel will focus a laser pulse in a manner similar to a conventional solid lens, provided the laser spot size at the entrance to the channel exceeds the equilibrium spot size in the plasma channel. However, a plasma channel lens will be able to tolerate laser intensities far above the usual damage limits for conventional optics. This offers the possibility of manipulating intense laser pulses when the spot size is tens of microns and placing the focusing or defocusing optics much closer to the target or interaction region. The focusing properties of the plasma channel lens have been analyzed for the ideal case of a fundamental Gaussian laser pulse and a parabolic plasma density profile. Analytical calculations of the focal length and focused spot size agree well with LEM 672 simulation results, particular when a more accurate thick lens analytical model is used. A variety of channel lens configurations have been examined, including a laser wakefield accelerator that uses a series of plasma lenses to transport the laser pulse over extended distances. Techniques used to generate long plasma channels for continuous optical guiding can probably be adapted to produce shorter channel lenses. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Conversations with C. Moore, T. M. Antonsen, Jr., and J. Grun are gratefully acknowledged. 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