Inverse bremsstrahlung in a plasma with electron temperature anisotropy

Inverse bremsstrahlung absorption of electromagnetic radiation in plasma wi th anisotropic two-temperature bi-Maxwellian electron distribution function over velocities is investigated. In the case of a weak field, absorption i s more effective if the radiation field is polarized in the plane in which the plasma electrons have the smaller of the two temperatures. In the case when the distribution function is highly anisotropic, absorption changes st rongly when the field polarization changes its direction with respect to th e temperature anisotropy axis. In the intermediate domain, when the field i s strong in directions not very close to that of the larger temperature, bo th absorption efficiency and degree of its anisotropy decrease. The conditi ons when the absorbed power practically does not depend on the field are es tablished. Finally, in the case of a strong field, absorption decreases fur ther while the degree of anisotropy is a weakly changing logarithmic functi on of effective electron temperatures. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physi cs.