Dynamics of the excitation of an upper hybrid wave by a rippled laser beam in magnetoplasma

This paper presents the effects of a laser spike (superimposed on an intense laser beam) and a static magnetic field on the excitation of the upper hybrid wave (UHW) in a hot collisionless magnetoplasma, taking into account the relativistic nonlinearity. The laser beam is propagating perpendicular to the static magnetic field and has its electric vector polarized along the direction of the static magnetic field (ordinary mode). Analytical expressions for the growth rate of the ripple, the beam width of the rippled laser beam, and the UHW have been obtained. It is found that the coupling among the main laser beam, ripple, and UHW is strong. The ripple gets focused when the initial power of the laser beam is greater than the critical power for focusing. It has been shown that the presence of a laser spike affects significantly the growth rate and the dynamics of the UHW. In addition, it has been seen that the effect of changing the strength of the static magnetic field on the nonlinear coupling and on the dynamics of the excitation of the UHW is significant. The results are presented for typical laser plasma parameters. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.