Plasma spiral wave produced by optical-field ionization

Chen-Kang Huang^1*, Jyhpyng Wang^1,2

¹Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
²Department of Physics, National Central University, Taoyuan, Taiwan

* Presenter:Chen-Kang Huang, email:powercurt@gmail.com

The formation and the evolution of a spiral electron density wave in a plasma produced by intense laser pulses via tunnel ionization of atoms is studied theoretically and by simulation. The density wave, which is the electron density modulation initialized by the spatial-dependent ionization process, becomes spiral when the ionizing laser carries angular momentum. The structure of the density wave pattern depends on sum of the spin and orbital angular momentum of the laser. Due to various plasma instabilities, the initial density modulation will break into small filaments in a short period of time and the density wave oscillates as angular momentum transports outward.

Keywords: Plasma phsyics, Optical angular momentum, Ultrafast laser, Plasma instability