Electromagnetic radiation at twice the plasma frequency emitted from the region of interaction of two short laser pulses in a rarefied plasma

We study the electromagnetic radiation at twice the plasma frequency, which emerges because of the interaction of two identical counterpropagating short laser pulses in a rarefied plasma and caused by excitation of small-scale standing plasma waves in the pulse overlap region. The energy, spectral, and angular characteristics of radiation are investigated, and the dependence of these characteristics on the parameters of the laser pulses is analyzed. The possibility of applying this effect for diagnostics of localized plasma oscillations is discussed.