Title :
Decay instability in a plasma channel
Author :
Ramachandran, K. ; Tripathi, Vipin K.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Phys., Indian Inst. of Technol., New Delhi, India
fDate :
4/1/1998 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
Near the critical layer, a large-amplitude laser beam creates a transverse plasma channel due to the ponderomotive force. The axis of the channel is normal to the ambient density gradient. Inside the channel, the laser beam decays into counter-propagating ion acoustic and Langmuir waves. A nonlocal theory of the process is developed for a parabolic density profile. The growth rate of the instability is significantly reduced due to the nonlocal effects
Keywords :
plasma Langmuir waves; plasma density; plasma instability; plasma ion acoustic waves; plasma light propagation; Langmuir waves; ambient density gradient; critical layer; decay instability; growth rate; ion acoustic waves; large-amplitude laser beam; nonlocal effects; nonlocal theory; parabolic density profile; plasma channel; ponderomotive force; transverse plasma channel; Acoustic beams; Electrons; Equations; Laser beams; Laser fusion; Laser theory; Plasma accelerators; Plasma density; Plasma waves; Pump lasers;
Journal_Title :
Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on
