INTERACTION OF CROSSED LASER-BEAMS WITH PLASMAS

The parametric interaction of two crossed collimated laser beams with ion plasma modes has been studied. The underlying process is a density grating that is created by the two laser beams. The Bragg diffraction that is produced enhances forward stimulated Brillouin scattering (SB S) which results in a time dependent energy exchange between the two b eams. A diversity of other SBS processes which depend on the symmetry of driving laser beams are also discussed. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.