STIMULATED RAMAN-SCATTERING IN A PLASMA CHANNEL

An incense laser beam propagating in a low-density plasma channel unde rgoes stimulated Raman forward scattering, producing a plasma wave and two electromagnetic sideband waves. The electromagnetic waves are loc alized within a width similar to(ca/omega(p0))(1/2), where a is the ra dius of the channel, omega(p0) is the plasma frequency on the axis of the channel, and c is the velocity of light, whereas the localization of the plasma wave is dependent on the growth rate of the Raman proces s. The localization effects reduce the region of interaction and the g rowth rate. At moderate intensities the growth rate scales as 2/3 powe r of intensity, however, at higher intensities it varies less rapidly. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.