Abstract
The decay instability of a high-frequency surface plasma wave and a low-frequency ion acoustic surface wave, which arises when an intense electromagnetic plane wave is incident perpendicularly on an unmagnetized semi-infinite plasma from a vacuum, is investigated on the basis of two-fluid hydrodynamics for warm electrons and cold ions. The growth rate for the instability and the threshold amplitude of the incident wave are determined. The growth rate is compared numerically with that for a similar decay instability of the corresponding volume-wave modes. In contrast to the ’’volume’’ decay instability, the present one gives an appreciable growth rate even if the frequency of the incident wave is lower than the electron plasma frequency.
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