Evidence in the second-harmonic emission for self-focusing of a laser pulse in a plasma

Short-pulse (300 psec), high-intensity (1014−1015 W/cm2) Nd-laser light was propagated into variable scale length plasmas (Ln≡n/∇n=200–400 μm at 0.1 critical density) preformed by long-pulse (4 nsec), low-intensity (≂6×1012 W/cm2) irradiation of planar targets. For high short-pulse intensities (≥5×1014 W/cm2), time-integrated images show filament-shaped regions of second-harmonic (2ω0) emission from the low density (0.01≤ne/nc≤0.2) region of the ablation plasma. Two-dimensional computer calculations of the hyrodynamics and laser beam propagation indicate that these filaments are consistent with ponderomotive self-focusing of the short pulse. A theoretical model that explains the 2ω0 generation mechanism within low-density filaments is also presented.