Ponderomotive force driven mechanism for electrostatic wave excitation and energy absorption of electromagnetic waves in overdense magnetized plasma

The excitation of electrostatic waves in plasma by laser electromagnetic pulse is important as it provides a scheme by which the power from the laser electromagnetic (EM) field can be transferred into the plasma medium. The paper presents a fundamentally new ponderomotive pressure-driven mechanism of excitation of electrostatic waves in an overdense magnetized plasma by a finite laser pulse. Particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations using the EPOCH-4.17.10 framework have been utilized for the study of a finite laser pulse interacting with a magnetized overdense plasma medium. The external magnetic field is chosen to be aligned parallel to the laser propagation direction. In this geometry, the electromagnetic wave propagation inside the plasma is identified as whistler or R and L waves. The group velocity of these waves being different, a clear spatial separation of the R and L pulses are visible. In addition, excitation of electrostatic perturbation associated with the EM pulses propagating inside the plasma is also observed. These electrostatic perturbations are important as they couple laser energy to the plasma medium. The excitation of electrostatic oscillations are understood here by a fundamentally new mechanism of charge separation created by the difference between the ponderomotive force (of the electromagnetic pulse) felt by the two plasma species, viz., the electrons and the ions in a magnetized plasma.