Transparency of near-critical density plasmas under extreme laser intensities

We investigated transparency of near-critical plasma targets for highly intense incident lasers and discovered that beyond relativistic transparency, there exists an anomalous opacity regime, where the plasma target tend to be opaque at extreme light intensities. The unexpected phenomenon is found to originate from the trapping of ions under exotic conditions. We found out the propagation velocity and the amplitude of the laser-driven charge separation field in a large parameter range and derived the trapping probability of ions. The model successfully interpolates the emergence of anomalous opacity in simulations. The trend is more significant when radiation reaction comes into effect, leaving a transparency window in the intensity domain. Transparency of a plasma target defines the electron dynamics and thereby the emission mechanisms of gamma-photons in the ultra-relativistic regime. Our findings are not only of fundamental interest but also imply the proper mechanisms for generating desired electron/gamma sources. (paper)