Anisotropic instability in a laser heated plasma

The theory of the Weibel instability induced by the inverse Bremsstrahlung absorption of a laser light in an underdense plasma is revisited. It is shown that previous analyses have strongly overestimated the effect by neglecting the stabilizing term related to the interaction of the generated quasis...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physics of plasmas 2007-05, Vol.14 (5), p.053111-053111-8
Main Authors: Sangam, A., Morreeuw, J.-P., Tikhonchuk, V. T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ABSORPTION
ANISOTROPY
BREMSSTRAHLUNG
INTERACTIONS
LASERS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
PLASMA
PLASMA HEATING
PLASMA INSTABILITY
VECTORS
WAVELENGTHS
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Summary:The theory of the Weibel instability induced by the inverse Bremsstrahlung absorption of a laser light in an underdense plasma is revisited. It is shown that previous analyses have strongly overestimated the effect by neglecting the stabilizing term related to the interaction of the generated quasistatic magnetic field with the laser-heated electrons. The revised model leads to a reduction of the growth rate by more than a factor of 10, to strong reduction of the domain of unstable modes and to inversion of the direction of the unstable wave vectors in the long wavelength limit. The consequences of this instability on the laser plasma interaction are also discussed.
ISSN:1070-664X
1089-7674
DOI:10.1063/1.2736347