PPPL-3520 is available in pdf or postscript formats.

Raman Forward Scattering in Plasma Channels

Authors: G. Shvets and X. Li

Date of PPPL Report: November 2000

Submitted to: Physics of Plasmas

Raman scattering instability of an intense laser pulse in a plasma channel proceeds differently than in a homogeneous plasma: the growth rate is reduced and the scaling with the laser intensity modified. These differences, significant even for shallow plasma channels, arise because of the radial shear of the plasma frequency and the existence of the weakly damped hybrid (electrostatic/electromagnetic) modes of the radially inhomogeneous plasma. The interplay of these two effects produces double-peaked spectra for the direct forward scattering in a channel.