Filamentation Instability of Intense Microwaves in High Density Plasmas

Analysis of the filamentation instability presented by P. Kaw et al. is extended to apply in a plasma with relatively high densities. It is found that the spatial growth rate increases with the plasma density. This result enables us to expect a possibility for detecting the instability in laboratory plasmas. Experimental conditions to verify the instability are discussed in some detail.