Time-resolved measurements of secondary Langmuir waves produced by the Langmuir decay instability in a laser-produced plasma

Abstract

Direct observations of secondary Langmuir waves produced by the parametric decay instability of primary Langmuir waves are presented. The measurements have been obtained using Thomson scattering of a short-wavelength probe laser beam and are resolved in time, space, frequency, and wave number. The primary Langmuir waves were driven by stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) of a smoothed laser beam in a preformed plasma. Measurements of the amplitude of the density fluctuations associated with primary and secondary Langmuir waves show that the threshold of the Langmuir decay instability (LDI) is close to the threshold of the Raman instability. This is in agreement with theoretical predictions. However, the ratio of amplitudes of the density fluctuations associated with both secondary and primary Langmuir waves does not agree with existing theories of SRS saturation due to LDI cascading and/or strong Langmuir turbulence in homogeneous plasmas. An explanation based on the interaction beam intensity distribution produced by the random phase plate in the plasma is discussed.