Abstract:
In 1D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation, it is found that a plasma grating is produced by the interaction of a single ultra-short laser pulse with a solid-density plasma carbon target. When the appropriate laser and plasma parameters are used, the incident laser and the laser reflected by the rear-surface of the plasma target can form a standing wave, resulting in a ponderomotive force and charge-separation field that can modulate the plasma density and form a plasma density grating. Under this mechanism, we have studied the plasma density gratings generated by the interaction between plasma and ultraviolet laser pulses with wavelengths ranging from 40nm to 130 nm. The results show that, using a single laser pulse and a under-critical plasma target, stable plasma gratings can last more than several tens of picoseconds, with the max peak density greater than twenty times that of the initial density. Compared with traditional generation of plasma gratings with two laser beams or density-gradient plasmas, this scheme with uniform plasma is easier to carry out.