Observation of steepening in electron plasma waves driven by stimulated Raman backscattering

Authors

Donald Umstadter, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
R. Williams, University of California, Los Angeles
C. Clayton, University of California, Los Angeles
C. Joshi, University of California, Los Angeles

Date of this Version

7-20-1987

Comments

Published by American Physical Society. Physical Review Letters, 59, 292 (1987). http://prl.aps.org. Copyright © 1997 American Physical Society. Permission to use.

Abstract

Harmonics of plasma waves excited by CO₂-laser–induced stimulated Raman scattering have been observed by frequency- and wave-number-resolved ruby Thomson scattering. Measurements of their relative amplitudes agreed with predictions of nonlinear warm-plasma wave-steepening theory up to the maximum observed amplitude of the fundamental component, ñ₁/n₀=16%.