Abstract
Preformed plasma channels with parabolic radial density profiles enable the extended and stable optical guiding of high-intensity laser pulses. High-voltage discharge capillaries, commonly used for channel formation, have limited guiding length and opaque walls, complicating the diagnosis of the plasma within. This paper proposes a free-space gas channel produced by the collision of several gas flows. The collision of the gas flows forms an on-axis density depression surrounded by higher density walls. By offsetting the flows, we demonstrated the creation of what we believe is a novel vortex structure that exhibits a long-lived parabolic density profile. Once ionized, the resulting plasma density profile has a near-parabolic dependence appropriate for guiding. We then performed detailed two-dimensional (2D) fluid dynamics simulations to examine the properties and stability of the guiding structure.
© 2015 Optical Society of America
Full Article | PDF ArticleCorrections
D. Kaganovich, J. P. Palastro, Y.-H. Chen, D. F. Gordon, M. H. Helle, and A. Ting, "Simulation of free-space optical guiding structure based on colliding gas flows: erratum," Appl. Opt. 55, 2852-2852 (2016)https://opg.optica.org/ao/abstract.cfm?uri=ao-55-11-2852
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