title: Electron acceleration and the propagation of ultrashort high-intensity laser pulses in plasmas
abstract: Reported are interactions of high-intensity laser pulses ( lambda = 810 nm and I</=3x10(18) W/cm(2)) with plasmas in a new parameter regime, in which the pulse duration ( tau = 29 fs) corresponds to 0. 6-2.6 plasma periods. Relativistic filamentation is observed to cause laser-beam breakup and scattering of the beam out of the vacuum propagation angle. A beam of megaelectronvolt electrons with divergence angle as small as 1 degrees is generated in the forward direction, which is correlated to the growth of the relativistic filamentation. Raman scattering, however, is found to be much less than previous long-pulse results.
authors.affiliation: Center for Ultrafast Optical Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2099, USA.
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Krishnan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Saleh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Umstadter