Abstract
Self-focusing of a laser beam in a plasma is treated in terms of the ponderomotive acceleration due to the gradient of the light intensity. The focusing of radiation within the first minima of diffraction sets a lower limit to the laser power which is of the order of 1 MW for the usual lasers if cut-off density and a plasma temperature of about 10 eV are assumed.
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This work was performed under the auspicies of a contract between Euratom and the Institut für Plasmaphysik, Garching-München.
Stimulating discussions with Prof. A.Schlüter, Dr. D.Pfirsch and W.Engelhardt are gratefully acknowledged.
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Hora, H. Self-focusing of laser beams in a plasma by ponderomotive forces. Z. Physik 226, 156–159 (1969). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01392018
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01392018