ABSTRACT
In laser-plasma interaction the electric field, or rather the various macroscopic electric fields, plays a major role in defining the properties of the plasma system. First, the laser electric field, EL cos!Lt, is propagating into the plasma, where part of it is reflected and the other part is absorbed. The laser electric field amplitude and its frequency are given by
EL ðV=cmÞ ¼ 2:75 109
IL
1016 W=cm2
!L ðs1Þ ¼ 2c
L ¼ 1:88 1015
mm L
ð7:1Þ
where IL is the laser energy flux and L is the laser wavelength. !L sets the scale for high-frequency phenomena and the period of one laser oscillation ð2=!LÞ is about 3.3 fs for a 1 mm laser wavelength.
