Laser amplification in -ion plasmas
Phys. Rev. E 112, 045213 – Published 22 October, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/ww5f-k4kk
Abstract
We investigate laser amplification in plasmas, where negative muons partially replace electrons. Theoretical results reveal a hybrid plasma wave, called wave, that exhibits ion-acoustic behavior in long-wavelength regime and Langmuir-like behavior in short-wavelength regime. Besides, the Landau damping of wave is smaller than that of Langmuir wave. Particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations confirm the theoretical results of instabilities in plasmas. The wave enables efficient laser amplification by suppressing pump-driven spontaneous instabilities through enhanced Landau damping of Langmuir waves. Compared to Raman amplification, -wave amplification can maintain the Gaussian waveform of the seed laser, avoiding pulse splitting. Compared to strong-coupling Brillouin amplification, -wave amplification exhibits weaker filamentation instability. Our theoretical model can be generalized to other plasma systems containing two species of negatively charged particles, such as two-temperature electron plasmas and negative-ion plasma. These findings establish plasma as a promising medium for advanced laser amplification schemes.