Recent experiments have shown that femtosecond filamentation plasmas generate ultrabroadband radio frequency radiation (RF). We show that a combination of plasma dynamics is responsible for the RF: A plasma wake field develops behind the laser pulse, and this wake excites (and copropagates with) a surface wave on the plasma column. The surface wave proceeds to detach from the end of the plasma and propagates forward as the RF pulse. We have developed a four-stage model of these plasma wake surface waves and find that it accurately predicts the RF from a wide range of experiments, including both 800-nm and $3.9\text{−}\mu \mathrm{m}$ laser systems.

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• Electromagnetic waves & oscillations
• Laser applications
• Laser-plasma interactions
• Multiphoton or tunneling ionization & excitation
• Plasma production & heating by laser beams, laser-foil, laser-cluster
• Plasma waves
• Plasmonics
• Ultrafast phenomena