Laser Wakefield Driven Generation of Isolated Carrier-Envelope-Phase Tunable Intense Subcycle Pulses.

Area of Science:

• * Physics
• * Laser Science
• * Plasma Physics

Background:

• * Intense, ultrashort electromagnetic pulses are crucial for advanced applications like attosecond pulse generation and observing electronic-level reaction dynamics.
• * Current methods struggle to achieve both high intensity and carrier-envelope-phase (CEP) tunability simultaneously.
• * Existing techniques limit the control and tunability of ultrashort pulses.

Purpose of the Study:

• * To present a new scheme for generating isolated, intense, carrier-envelope-phase (CEP) tunable subcycle pulses.
• * To achieve tunability in central frequencies from mid-infrared to ultraviolet.
• * To enable precise control over electron motion and reaction dynamics at the electronic level.

Main Methods:

• * Utilizes an intense laser pulse to drive a plasma wake, copropagating with a long-wavelength seed pulse.
• * Employs a moving electron density spike within the plasma wake to amplify the seed pulse.
• * Leverages 2D and 3D particle-in-cell simulations to model the pulse generation process.

Main Results:

• * Successfully generates isolated subcycle pulses with tunable carrier-envelope-phase (CEP).
• * Achieves frequency tunability across the mid-infrared to ultraviolet spectrum by adjusting laser and plasma parameters.
• * Predicts laser-to-subcycle-pulse conversion efficiencies up to 1% in simulations.

Conclusions:

• * The proposed scheme offers a viable method for producing high-intensity, CEP-tunable subcycle pulses.
• * This advancement provides greater control for applications in ultrafast science and attosecond physics.
• * The technique demonstrates potential for generating relativistically intense subcycle pulses with broad frequency tunability.