{
  "abstract": "Plasma mirrors (PM) enhance the temporal contrast of high-power lasers, but declining reflectivity at subrelativistic intensities limits their energy throughput. Here we show that prepulse-generated preplasma drives this decline in p polarization primarily through absorption. Particle-in-cell simulations using a measured prepulse profile reproduce the reflectivity decrease, with near- and far-field energy accounting showing a weak contribution from scattering. Optical-cycle-resolved electron tracking reveals successive electron bunches extracted from the plasma surface, supporting a vacuum-heating interpretation. Under the simulated conditions, s-polarized absorption remains weak and no comparable decline occurs. Applying the model to two representative double-plasma-mirror (DPM) systems, BELLA and CoReLS, it captures both the p-polarized and s-polarized reflectivity responses across the operating range. Yet, the model still misses the high-fluence s-polarized reflectivity rollover, and further investigation of the scattering channel might be needed. These findings connect prepulse history to polarization-dependent energy loss, informing the choice of plasma-mirror operating conditions.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2611.04355",
  "author_total": 2,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Zhongwei Wang"
    },
    {
      "name": "Douglass Schumacher"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/33wcbfcfvj9ds.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2611.04355",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "33wcbfcfvj9ds",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.04355",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "LicenseRef-arXiv-nonexclusive-1.0",
  "licence_label": "arXiv licence",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "physics.plasm-ph"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2611.04355",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-11-03",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/33wcbfcfvj9ds.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-04T15:21:25Z",
      "native_id": "2611.04355",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.04355"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:physics.plasm-ph",
      "subfield": "plasma"
    }
  ],
  "title": "The preplasma origin of the plasma-mirror reflectivity response",
  "title_text": "The preplasma origin of the plasma-mirror reflectivity response",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-04T15:21:25Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/33wcbfcfvj9ds",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}