In a previous paper, a one-dimensional, inhomogeneous model was considered in describing the nonlinear interaction of a radiofrequency plane wave with a time-varying plasma. This paper extends the analysis to the anisotropic case, in which an elliptically polarized plane wave incident upon an electron-density profile induces changes in the electron density and electron temperature. A d-c. magnetic field parallel to the electron-density gradients causes the elliptically polarized wave to split into two distinct modes, a right-hand circularly polarized and a left-hand circularly polarized mode. The two modes are coupled through an energy-balance equation that governs the behavior of the electron temperature. The time-dependent response of the plasma may be found by numerically integrating an energy-balance equation and a continuity equation. The solution to the wave equation for the time-varying, inhomogeneous, anisotropic medium may be obtained through the use of the WKB approximation. The time scales for electron-temperature and electron-density changes are found to vary with incident flux, incident-wave ellipticity, and appropriate normalized plasma parameters.
Generating Isolated Elliptically Polarized Attosecond Pulses Using Bichromatic Counterrotating Circularly Polarized Laser Fields