Generation of plasma intrinsic oscillation at the front surface of a target irradiated by a circularly polarized laser pulse

In laser-target interaction, the effects of laser intensity on plasma oscillation at the front surface of targets have been investigated by one-dimensional particle in cell simulations. The periodical oscillations of the ion density and electrostatic field at the front surface of the targets are reported for the first time, which is considered as an intrinsic property of the target excited by the laser. The oscillation period depends only on initial plasma density and is irrelevant with laser intensity. Flattop structures with curves in ion phase space are found with a more intense laser pulse due to the larger amplitude variation of the electrostatic field. A simple but valid model is proposed to interpret the curves.

Interaction of oblique incident electromagnetic wave with relativistic ionization front

Interactions of oblique incident probe wave with oncoming ionization fronts have been investigated using moving boundary conditions. Field conversion coefficients of reflection, transmission and magnetic modes produced in the interactions are derived. Phase matching conditions at the front and frequency up-shifting formulas for the three modes are also presented.

Steady state ion acceleration by a circularly polarized laser pulse

The steady state ion acceleration at the front of a cold solid target by a circularly polarized flat-top laser pulse is studied with one-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation. A model that ions are reflected by a steady laser-driven piston is used by comparing with the electrostatic shock acceleration. A stable profile with a double-flat-top structure in phase space forms after ions enter the undisturbed region of the target with a constant velocity. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A movable-cavity cold atom space clock

We present an experimental scheme of a cold atom space clock with a movable cavity. By using a single microwave cavity, we find that the clock has a significant advantage, i.e. the longitudinal cavity phase shift is eliminated. A theoretical analysis has been carried out in terms of the relation between the atomic transition probability and the velocity of the moving cavity by taking into account the velocity distribution of cold atoms. The requirements for the microwave power and its stability for atomic pi/2 excitation at different moving velocities of the cavity lead to the determination of the proper working parameters of the rubidium clock in frequency accuracy 10(-17). Finally, the mechanical stability for the scheme is analysed and the ways of solving the possible mechanical instability of the device are proposed.

The design of a controllable imaging device with the cold atomic medium

Under the circumstance of a Gaussian control field, the cold atomic medium with electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) turns out to be the special medium with the quadratic index distribution which is controllable online. In our study, the optical system occupies a portion of the EIT medium which acts as an imaging device. With the help of the Collins formula, the analytic expression for the spatial distribution of the probe field in the cold atomic medium is obtained as well as the location of the imaging. The methods for improving the visibility of the imaging are proposed in this paper. Moreover, we also show that the shapes of the images on the output are strongly influenced by the intensity of the control field, which provides a potential optical processing method.

Nonlinear spectroscopy of cold atoms in diffuse laser light

The nonlinear spectroscopy of cold atoms in the diffuse laser cooling system is studied in this paper. We present the theoretical models of the recoil-induced resonances (RIR) and the electromagnetically-induced absorption (EIA) of cold atoms in diffuse laser light, and show their signals in an experiment of cooling Rb-87 atomic vapor in an integrating sphere. The theoretical results are in good agreement with the experimental ones when the light intensity distribution in the integrating sphere is considered. The differences between nonlinear spectra of cold atoms in the diffuse laser light and in the optical molasses are also discussed. (c) 2009 Optical Society of America

Wave-front analysis method of circular aperture sampling for collimation testing

A new type of wave-front analysis method for the collimation testing of laser beams is proposed. A concept of wave-front height is defined, and, on this basis, the wave-front analysis method of circular aperture sampling is introduced. The wave-front height of the tested noncollimated wave can be estimated from the distance between two identical fiducial diffraction planes of the sampled wave, and then the divergence is determined. The design is detailed, and the experiment is demonstrated. The principle and experiment results of the method are presented. Owing to the simplicity of the method and its low cost, it is a promising method for checking the collimation of a laser beam with a large divergence. © 2005 Optical Society of America.

Highly sensitive wave-front sensor with a non-zero-order phase plate

We propose a novel highly sensitive wave front detection method for a quick check of a flat wave front by taking advantage of a non-zero-order pi phase plate that yields a non-zero-order diffraction pattern. When a light beam with a flat wave front illuminates a phase plate, the zero-order intensity is zero. When there is a slight distortion of the wave front, the zero-order intensity increases. The ratio of first-order intensity to that of zero-order intensity is used as the criterion with which to judge whether the wave front under test is flat, eliminating the influence of background light. Experimental results demonstrate that this method is efficient, robust, and cost-effective and should be highly interesting for a quick check of a flat wave front of a large-aperture laser beam and adaptive optical systems. (c) 2005 Optical Society of America.