Plasma-based waveguides are currently employed for laser wakefield acceleration to extend the focal region of laser beams. A parabolic transverse plasma density profile, suitable for laser guiding, can be established in a dielectric capillary as a consequence of a discharge in gas. In this work, we report on a new ray tracing model, based on the Zemax software, able to simulate the envelope of a laser beam propagating through a plasma waveguide. The potentialities offered by Zemax in terms of geometries and materials and the possibility to create custom objects do allow the simulation of complex and various scenarios, as for example curved plasma waveguides.

中文翻译：

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等离子波导的Zemax射线追踪模型

当前，基于等离子的波导用于激光唤醒场加速，以扩展激光束的聚焦区域。由于气体的放电，可以在介电毛细管中建立适合于激光引导的抛物线形横向等离子体密度分布。在这项工作中，我们报告了一种基于Zemax软件的新射线追踪模型，该模型能够模拟通过等离子波导传播的激光束的包络线。Zemax在几何形状和材料方面提供的潜力以及创建自定义对象的可能性确实允许模拟复杂的各种情况，例如弯曲的等离子波导。