Efficient propagation of ultra-intense laser beam in dense plasma

Ultra intense laser propagation in extended, dense plasma is investigated through optical and proton probing. When a >1 kJ, 10 ps laser propagates into a long-density scale length plasma, channel formation was observed up to 0.6 nc from the analysis of optical probe images. The proton track analysis shows the formation of strong electric and magnetic fields along the plasma channel, which may lead to the observed collimated electron beam on the laser axis. These results are promising for the feasibility of the direct irradiation scheme of fast ignition.