Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 11, 2026
11:20
Investigation of Early Plasma Evolution Induced by Ultrashort Laser Pulses
Published on: July 2, 2012
Parametric excitations of fast plasma waves by counterpropagating laser beams
1Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08543, USA.
Physical Review Letters
|May 1, 2001
Abstract:
Short- and long-wavelength plasma waves can become strongly coupled in the presence of two counterpropagating laser pump pulses detuned by twice the cold-plasma frequency omega(p). What makes this four-wave interaction important is that the growth rate of the plasma waves occurs much faster than in the more obvious copropagating geometry.
Related Concept Videos
01:30Propagation Speed of Electromagnetic Waves
Electromagnetic waves are consistent with Ampere's law. Assuming there is no conduction current Ampere's law is given as:
01:28Standing Waves in a Cavity
A household microwave and lasers are examples of standing electromagnetic waves in a cavity. When two conducting metal plates are placed parallel at the nodal planes, it creates a cavity where standing waves are formed. The cavity between the two planes is analogous to a stretched string held at the points x = 0 and x = L. Here, the distance 'L' between the two planes must be an integer multiple of half of the wavelength. The wavelengths that satisfy this condition are given by: