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Updated: Oct 3, 2026

Characterizing Far-infrared Laser Emissions and the Measurement of Their Frequencies
Published on: December 18, 2015
Direct observation of the ponderomotive force effects in short-scale-length laser plasmas by frequency-domain
P Audebert1, J P Geindre, S Rebibo
1Laboratoire pour l'Utilisation des Lasers Intenses, UMR7605, CNRS-CEA, Université Paris VI, Ecole Polytechnique, 91128 Palaiseau Cedex, France.
Abstract:
We report on single-shot frequency-domain interferometric measurements showing space- and time-resolved ponderomotive electron density profile steepening of a short-scale-length ultraintense laser-produced plasma. The density gradient scale length is varied by applying a time-delayed laser prepulse. The measured absolute position of the critical density surface is found to be in agreement with one-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations for the range of scale lengths studied.

