Developments in relativistic nonlinear optics

摘要

We report recent results of experiments and simulations in the regime of peak laser intensities above 10{sup}19 W/cm{sup}2, including the following topics: (1) electron and proton acceleration to energies in excess of 10 MeV in well collimated beams; (2) use of laser chirp to control the growth of plasma waves and acceleration of electrons by the Raman instability; (3) all optical injection and acceleration of electrons; (4) relativistic self-focusing by means of the mutual index of refraction of two overlapping laser pulses; (5) creation of a radioisotope by the reaction 10{sup left}B(d,n)11{sup left}C; (6) high order harmonic generation from relativistic free electrons in an underdense plasma.