Sideward Stimulated Raman Scattering

The SRS of a short laser pulse is important in the contexts of particle acceleration2 and inertial confinement fusion.3,4 In previous studies of the spatiotemporal evolution of SRS,5–13 the Stokes waves were allowed to pass freely through the pulse boundaries. However, the radial ponderomotive force associated with the pulse can expel plasma from the neighborhood of the pulse axis, in which case SRS occurs in a plasma channel.14 A channel can also be preformed by a second pulse.15 The reflection of light by the channel walls couples Stokes waves propagating symmetrically relative to the pulse axis, as shown in Fig. 71.24(b), and enhances the growth of oblique SRS.