Suppression of Electron Ponderomotive Blowout and Relativistic Self-Focusing by the Occurrence of Raman Scattering and Plasma Heating

We use a fully explicit particle-in-cell model to demonstrate that electron blowout/cavitation and relativistic self-focusing can be prevented by the occurrence of stimulated Raman scattering and plasma heating. The suppression results predominantly from the scattering of laser power out of the focal cone and from the decrease in the plasma fluid{close_quote}s quiver velocity when the plasma is heated to multi-MeV temperatures. {copyright} {ital 1998} {ital The American Physical Society}