title: Propagation of short intense laser pulses in gas-filled capillaries.
abstract: The guided laser pulse propagation and wake-field generation are studied in a wide (in comparison with the laser spot size) gas-filled capillary with an on-axis gas density depletion, which can be produced by a rapid spin of the capillary around its axis or by radially propagating shock waves generated in a piezoceramic tube. A single equation for the wake-field potential, which describes the fully relativistic plasma response in the presence of optical field ionization (OFI) of a gas, is derived and used to demonstrate a guided propagation of a short intense laser pulse over many Rayleigh lengths in a leaky plasma channel produced by the pulse due to OFI in the capillary filled with a radially inhomogeneous gas. The efficient generation of a regular wake field over long distances suitable for the laser wake-field accelerators is shown.
authors.affiliation: Institute for High Energy Densities, Associated Institute for High Temperatures, Russian Academy of Sciences, Izhorskaya 13/19, Moscow 127412, Russia. adreev@laslab.ras.ru
authors.forename: N E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Andreev
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nishida
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yugami