This article is cited in 12 papers

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARIES

Generation of strong Langmuir fields during optical breakdown of a dense gas

N. V. Vvedenskii, V. B. Gil'denburg

Institute of Applied Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nizhnii Novgorod

Abstract: Results are presented from theoretical studies and computer simulations of the resonant excitation of Langmuir waves during the ionization of a homogeneous gas by high-intensity laser radiation. Two mechanisms for the formation of nonuniform resonant structures in the discharge are examined: plasma-resonance ionization instability, resulting in the density modulation along the electric field vector, and gas breakdown in the field of a transversely inhomogeneous laser beam (a Bessel beam produced by an axicon lens). In both cases, the transition of the plasma density through the critical value is accompanied by the generation of intense Langmuir waves, the formation of fast ionization fronts, and the appearance of long-lived quasi-turbulent states.

PACS: 52.35.-g, 52.50.Jm

Received: 01.08.2002

 English version: Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics Letters, 2002, 76:6, 380–393

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