‘‘Flicker’’ in small scale laser–plasma self-focusing

Small amplitude, short wavelength ion acoustic waves in laser-produced plasmas cause fluctuations in the trajectories of light rays that can lead to time-dependent, self-sustaining shifting of focal spots and a somewhat random redistribution of the light near the critical surface. This flickering is seen in simulations involving small scale beam inhomogeneities over a uniform background laser profile, which model the center of a realistic laser beam. The effect can cause significant intensity multiplication in long scale length high-Z plasmas with only modest beam imperfections.