A method of coherent high-frequency electromagnetic radiation generation, proposed by Bulanov, Esirkepov, and Tajima [Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 085001 (2003)], is experimentally demonstrated. This method is based on the radiation frequency multiplication during reflection at a mirror flying with relativistic velocity. The relativistic mirror is formed by the electron density modulations in a strongly nonlinear wake wave, excited in an underdense plasma in the wake behind an ultrashort laser pulse. In our experiments, the reflection of a countercrossing laser pulse from the wake wave is observed. The detected frequency multiplication factor is in the range from 55 to 114, corresponding to a reflected radiation wavelength from 7 to . This may open a way towards tunable high-intensity sources of ultrashort coherent electromagnetic pulses in the extreme ultraviolet and x-ray spectral regions. Parameters of the reflecting wake wave can be determined using the reflected radiation as a probe.
Frequency multiplication of light back-reflected from a relativistic wake wave
Also at P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky Prospekt 53, 119991 Moscow, Russia.
Also at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Institutskij Pereulok 9, Dolgoprudny, 141700 Moscow Region, Russia.
Also at A. M. Prokhorov Institute of General Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vavilov Street 38, 119991 Moscow, Russia.
A. S. Pirozhkov, J. Ma, M. Kando, T. Zh. Esirkepov, Y. Fukuda, L.-M. Chen, I. Daito, K. Ogura, T. Homma, Y. Hayashi, H. Kotaki, A. Sagisaka, M. Mori, J. K. Koga, T. Kawachi, H. Daido, S. V. Bulanov, T. Kimura, Y. Kato, T. Tajima; Frequency multiplication of light back-reflected from a relativistic wake wave. Phys. Plasmas 1 December 2007; 14 (12): 123106. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2816443
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