Backscattered supercontinuum emission from high-intensity laser–plasma interactions

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Abstract
We performed high-intensity subpicosecond laser–plasma interaction experiments to examine nonlinear scattering mechanisms in underdense plasmas. At incident laser intensities of 2 × 1018 W/cm2 the stimulated-Raman-backscattered spectrum exhibited an extremely broad, supercontinuumlike structure (Δω/ω0 > 1) extending from ~500 to >1200 nm (limited only by detector sensitivity). Large-amplitude modulations in the spectrum of the backscattered light were measured and are attributed to an interaction of the stimulated-Raman-scattered radiation with ion plasma waves.