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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Role of spatiotemporal couplings in stimulated Raman side scattering

C. Zepter1,2,*, A. Seidel1,2, M. Zepf1,2,3, M. C. Kaluza1,2,3, and A. Sävert2,3

  • 1Institute of Optics and Quantum Electronics, Max-Wien-Platz 1, 07743 Jena, Germany
  • 2Helmholtz-Institute Jena, Fröbelstieg 3, 07743 Jena, Germany
  • 3GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Planckstraße 1, 64291 Darmstadt, Germany

  • *carola.zepter@uni-jena.de
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Phys. Rev. Research 5, L012023 – Published 21 February, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.5.L012023

Abstract

A high-intensity laser pulse propagating through underdense plasma is prone to parametric instabilities. We report on experiments investigating the influence of a pulse-front tilt (PFT), one of the most common spatiotemporal couplings in the laser focus, on stimulated Raman side scattering (SRSS). For a laser pulse exhibiting such a PFT, SRSS becomes asymmetric, varies as the pulse propagates through the plasma, and yields larger scattering angles than expected from traditional SRSS theory, indicating a correlation of the scattering with the PFT. We show that by including the propagation of a Gaussian laser pulse with a PFT in an analytical model, we can describe the observed asymmetric side scattering. Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations reproduce the observed scattering and the asymmetry induced by the PFT. A microscopic analysis of the simulation data shows that the sum of the angles from PFT and SRSS describe the observed side scattering.

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Outline

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Phys. Rev. Research 5, L012023– Published 21 February, 2023
  • Received 22 September 2021
  • Revised 22 July 2022
  • Accepted 15 December 2022
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