Session XO6: Ultraintense Lasers and Particle Generation
9:30 AM–12:18 PM, Friday, November 12, 2010
Room: Columbus GH
Chair: Ronnie Shepherd, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Abstract ID: BAPS.2010.DPP.XO6.12
Abstract: XO6.00012 : Laser pulse shaping due to self-induced relativistic transparency in laser -- nanofoil interactions
11:42 AM–11:54 AM
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Abstract 
Authors:
Sasikumar Palaniyappan
(Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87544, USA)
Rahul Shah
(Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Hui-Chun Wu
(Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Randall Johnson
(Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Tsutomo Shimada
(Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Daniel Jung
(Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Donald Gautier
(Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Samuel Letzring
(Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Rainer Hoerlein
(Ludwig-Maximillian-Universitat, Germany)
Manuel Hegelich
(Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Juan Fernandez
(Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Shapes of the laser pulses transmitted through thin nanofoils due to self-induced relativistic transparency in intense, high contrast laser (80J, $\sim $600 fs, $>$10$^{20}$ W/cm$^{2}$ and 10$^{-10}$ contrast) -- nanofoil interactions were measured using a single shot second harmonic frequency resolved optical gating (FROG) system [Palaniyappan, et al., RSI, 81, 1 (2010)]. The FROG measurements show asymmetric pulse shapes, pulse shortening up to a factor of 2 and faster rise times on the leading edge than the falling edge. Part of the incident pulse is reflected/absorbed by the over dense plasma until it becomes relativistically under dense and transparent to the rest of the pulse. The measurements are qualitatively in agreement with a 1-D PIC simulation. Transmitted laser pulse shapes through 3 nm thick foil show large variations due to early target expansion.
To cite this abstract, use the following reference: http://meetings.aps.org/link/BAPS.2010.DPP.XO6.12