Modeling pulse-cleaning plasma mirrors from dielectric response to saturation: A particle-in-cell approach

Pulse-cleaning plasma mirrors are widely employed to improve ultraintense laser contrast, but much of the literature concerning their effect on the reflected pulse is empirical. A simulation study of pulse-cleaning plasma mirrors using the particle-in-cell code large scale plasma is presented here. The importance of capturing initial ionization from neutral atoms, collisional effects, and simulation dimensionality is considered. Excellent agreement with experimental data is obtained when a multiphoton ionization model is employed. Furthermore, a series of 2D simulations is shown to accurately replicate both the reflected light intensity and mode obtained from full 3D simulations at significantly reduced computation cost.