Stimulated Raman Scattering from uv-Laser-Produced Plasmas

Time-integrated, spectrally resolved measurements between 400 and 750 nm have been made of light backscattered from plasmas produced by 450-psec pulses from a 351-nm laser at ${10}^{13}$ to ${10}^{15}$ W/${\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$. Threshold and saturation behavior for the two-plasmon decay and the absolute and convective Raman instabilities have been observed. The scattered light spectra suggest the presence of a steepened density profile at the quarter critical density.