Time-resolved measurements of secondary Langmuir waves produced by the Langmuir decay instability in a laser-produced plasma
- Laboratoire pour lUtilisation des Lasers Intenses, Ecole Polytechnique, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 91128 Palaiseau cedex (France)
- Centre de Physique Theorique, Ecole Polytechnique, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 91128 Palaiseau cedex (France)
Direct observations of secondary Langmuir waves produced by the parametric decay instability of primary Langmuir waves are presented. The measurements have been obtained using Thomson scattering of a short-wavelength probe laser beam and are resolved in time, space, frequency, and wave number. The primary Langmuir waves were driven by stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) of a smoothed laser beam in a preformed plasma. Measurements of the amplitude of the density fluctuations associated with primary and secondary Langmuir waves show that the threshold of the Langmuir decay instability (LDI) is close to the threshold of the Raman instability. This is in agreement with theoretical predictions. However, the ratio of amplitudes of the density fluctuations associated with both secondary and primary Langmuir waves does not agree with existing theories of SRS saturation due to LDI cascading and/or strong Langmuir turbulence in homogeneous plasmas. An explanation based on the interaction beam intensity distribution produced by the random phase plate in the plasma is discussed. {copyright} {ital 1998 American Institute of Physics.}
- OSTI ID:
- 565798
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 5; ISSN PHPAEN; ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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