Arbitrary-velocity laser pulses in plasma waveguides
Abstract
Space-time structured laser pulses feature an intensity peak that can travel at an arbitrary velocity while maintaining a near-constant profile. These pulses can propagate in uniform media, where their frequencies are correlated with continuous transverse wavevectors, or in structured media, such as a waveguide, where their frequencies are correlated with discrete mode numbers. Here, we demonstrate the formation and propagation of arbitrary-velocity laser pulses in a plasma waveguide where the intensity can be orders of magnitude higher than in a solid-state waveguide. The flexibility to control the velocity of the peak intensity in a plasma waveguide enables new configurations for plasma-based sources of radiation and energetic particles, including THz generation, laser wakefield acceleration, and direct laser acceleration.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2503.15690,
title = {Arbitrary-velocity laser pulses in plasma waveguides},
author = {J. P. Palastro and K. G. Miller and M. R. Edwards and A. L. Elliott and L. S. Mack and D. Singh and A. G. R. Thomas},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2503.15690},
year = {2025}
}