Investigation of the wakefield generation in the interaction of the intense laser pulse with gas

In the present work, the formation of the wakefield during the interaction of intense laser pulse with a gas medium has been investigated by using PIC simulation code, including the ionization process. The results have been compared with those corresponding to the case of the pre-formed plasma medium. Although in previously published works, the strong launch of forwarding Raman's instability was shown to be as a result of plasma density fluctuations during ionization and the subsequent strong laser pulse modulation, our results indicate that the wakefield amplitude in gas in comparison with plasma considerably depends on the laser pulse shape. For laser pulse with a high slope, the amplitude of the wake electric field is quite the same in gas and plasma mediums. However, as the slope of the laser pulse decreases (soft slope), the wakefield is generated with a larger amplitude in the plasma. A further decrease in the laser pulse slope leads to a larger wake electric field in gas than in a plasma environment.