Ionization focusing of a short intense laser pulse and generation of wake plasma waves

The propagation of a short intense laser pulse is studied in a gas taking into account the ionization of gas atoms by the high- frequency electromagnetic field of the pulse. The conditions are found under which the ionization structures produced by the laser pulse cause the pulse focusing accompanied by a substantial increase in its intensity. It is shown that the leading edge of the pulse is subjected to ionization refraction at the ionization front, the temporal profile of the pulse becoming steeper. This results in the efficient generation of a wake wave at the ionization front, which is amplified during the development of self- modulation instability. The amplitude of the wake plasma wave achieves a substantial value already at small paths of the pulse in matter ( smaller than the diffraction length of the pulse). (C) 2003 MAIK " Nauka/ Interperiodica".