Thermal modulational instability in laser-produced plasmas

In this paper, the authors have investigated the effect of nonlocal electron heat transport on the modulational instability of intense electromagnetic waves in laser produced plasmas. For this purpose, they have considered the combined effect of the usual ponderomotive force and the inverse-bremsstrahlung of radiation causing electron pressure perturbations. It is found that a reduction in the electron thermal conductivity can result in larger temperature modulations, driving larger density perturbations and enhancing the modulational/filamentation instabilities. In conclusion, they stress that the present investigation complements the authors current understanding of the stimulated scattering instabilities associated with any intense electromagnetic wave that is employed for the inertial confinement fusion