Microwave simulation of laser-plasma interactions

The paper presents a detailed comparison between experiment and computer simulation of the nonlinear saturation of ion acoustic waves produced by the optical mixing of two intense electromagnetic waves. For ne/nc ≤ 0.2, the saturation is found both in experiment and in simulation to be due primarily to ion tail heating. For ne/nc approx. = 0.3-0.5, the first quantitative direct measurements of pump depletion reveal that it is as important as ion tail heating in determining saturation. (author). 9 refs, 5 figs