Magnetic field generated in a plasma by a short, circularly polarized laser pulse

We study the generation of a quasistatic magnetic field by a short, circularly polarized laser pulse in a tenuous cold uniform plasma. It is shown that two physical mechanisms are responsible for the generation of the various components of the magnetic field. One mechanism is due to the ponderomotive forces and governs the generation of the azimuthal component of the magnetic field. The other is similar to the inverse Faraday effect (IFE) in a nonuniform plasma and gives rise to axial and radial components of the magnetic field. At moderate radiative intensities, all magnetic field components are proportional to the squared intensity. The spatial structure of the magnetic field depends strongly on the pulse shape and the plasma density. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S1063-7761(98)00709-4].