Filamentation instability of a laser beam in an inhomogeneous plasma in an arbitrarily oriented external magnetic field

Abstract

AbstractThe interaction of a short pulse laser beam with an inhomogeneous plasma has been studied in the presence of an obliquely applied external magnetic field. The dispersion relation and the analytical growth rate have been obtained solving the nonlinear wave equation. It is found that the growth rate and the cut-off wavenumber are strongly influenced by the direction and magnitude of the applied magnetic field. Moreover, the growth rate has been modified by plasma inhomogeneity.