Electron parametric instabilities of ultraintense laser pulses propagating in plasmas of arbitrary density

Journal Article · Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1997 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.872494· OSTI ID:538481

Quesnel, B; Mora, P; Adam, J C; Heron, A; Laval, G ^[1]

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1. Centre de Physique Theorique (UPR 14 du CNRS), Ecole Polytechnique, 91128 Palaiseau Cedex (France)

The dispersion relation for electron parametric instabilities of a circularly polarized laser wave of arbitrary intensity is established without restrictions on the plasma density. It is obtained in an implicit analytical form and solved numerically. The well-known stimulated Raman scattering, relativistic modulational instability, relativistic filamentation instability, and two-plasmon decay are recovered at low intensity. Their behavior in the ultrarelativistic regime is characterized by a wide extent of the unstable region in the wave vector space, with growth rates equal to a fraction of the laser frequency, and a strong harmonic generation. Particle-in-cell simulations confirm these results and show that the instability leads to a very strong heating of the plasma. {copyright} {ital 1997 American Institute of Physics.}

• OSTI ID: 538481
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 4, Issue 9; Other Information: PBD: Sep 1997
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION
PARAMETRIC INSTABILITIES
LASER-RADIATION HEATING
PLASMA DENSITY
DISPERSION RELATIONS
INSTABILITY GROWTH RATES
PLASMA SIMULATION
BEAM-PLASMA SYSTEMS
RELATIVISTIC RANGE
COLD PLASMA