Mission Statement Graduate Student Information Contact Information MURI-2001 University of Maryland Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics
Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics

A joint Institute of the
College of Computer, Mathematical and
Natural Sciences
and the A. James Clark School of Engineering

IREAP Graduate Student Seminar

Friday, March 2, 2012 -- 12:00 p.m.
Large Conference Room (1207), Energy Research Facility

"Propagation Effects on THz Generation from Ionizing Two Color Laser Pulses"
by
Luke Johnson

Advisor: Tom Antonsen

Coherent mixing of an ultrashort laser pulse and its second harmonic in a gas cell produces THz radiation due to the nonlinear dependence of the ionization rate on field strength. As this is a coherent process, propagation effects, including self-phase modulation and dispersion, are important in determining the THz yield and are considered in this work. The laser pulses modeled have wavelengths of 800nm and 400nm, pulse widths of 50fs, and intensities of 1014 W/cm2. The laser pulse propagation is modeled using the split-step Fourier method to solve a first-order differential equation for the forward (+z direction) propagating spectral components. Further, we have used ADK ionization to describe the ionization of N2. The ionization current evolution is determined by solving a microscopic model where the free electrons are driven by the laser fields. To date, a 1D code with transverse fields and currents has been demonstrated. Future work includes extending the model to include diffraction and refraction.

For additional information about the IREAP Graduate Student Seminars, contact David Meichle at dmeichle at umd.edu or Kevin Schoeffler at kschoeff at umd.edu.

The schedule for the IREAP Graduate Student Seminars can be found at http://www.ireap.umd.edu/ireap/seminars/grad/sem-grad.htm.