INTENSE LASER-PULSE PROPAGATION AND STABILITY IN PARTIALLY STRIPPED PLASMAS

In a partially stripped plasma the presence of bound electrons can sig nificantly alter the propagation and stability of intense laser pulses . In the presence of both free and bound electrons, an atomic modulati on instability develops that can have a growth rate substantially high er than either the conventional relativistic modulational instability or the forward Raman instability. In addition, the filamentation insta bility can be significantly enhanced by bound electrons while the back ward Raman instability is unaffected.