Parametric Excitations of Fast Plasma Waves by Counter-propagating Laser Beams
Authors: G. Shvets and N.J. Fisch
Date of PPPL Report: March 2001
Published in: Phys. Rev. Lett. 86 (April 2001) 3328-3331.
Short- and long-wavelength plasma waves can become strongly coupled in the presence of two counter-propagating laser pump pulses detuned by twice the cold plasma frequency wp. What makes this four-wave interaction important is that the growth rate of the plasma waves occurs much faster than in the more obvious co-propagating geometry.