Quasitransient backward Raman amplification of powerful laser pulses in dense plasmas with multicharged ions

The range of plasma parameters, where the efficient quasitransient backward Raman amplification (QBRA) of powerful laser pulses is possible, is determined for dense plasmas with multicharged ions. Approximate scalings that portray in a simple way the efficient QBRA range in multidimensional parameter space are found. The calculation, applicable to infrared, ultraviolet, soft x-ray, and x-ray laser pulses, takes into account plasma heating by the lasers. It is shown that efficient QBRA can survive even the nonsaturated linear Landau damping of the Langmuir wave mediating the energy transfer from the pump to the seed laser pulse; moreover, this survival does not require very intense seed laser pulses. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3460347]