Absorption of ultrashort laser pulses in medium with account for propagation effects

Abstract The absorption of short laser pulses in an optically dense medium is theoretically studied based on the total absorption coefficient over the entire duration of the pulse, taking into account the effects of propagation and reflection of pulse from vacuum/medium interface. The approach is the generalization of our previous work [1], which traced a “bridge” between the micro- and macro-description of radiation processes in a medium induced by electromagnetic pulses of arbitrary duration. The expression for the total absorption coefficient is obtained in terms the complex refractive index of the medium. Various limits of this expression are considered. Numerical calculations of the dependence of the total absorption coefficient on the parameters of the laser pulses and the thickness of the medium layer were carried out and the results obtained were discussed.