Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 March 2009
An analysis of profile modifications in laser-plasma interactions in the presence of an externally applied constant d.c. magnetic field is presented. By considering the case of circular polarization for the incident laser light, the flow velocities and the shelf densities in the incident as well as the evanescent regions are calculated. For left-handed circular polarization, the flow velocity in the incident region is enhanced by the magnetic field, whereas the opposite occurs for right-handed circular polarization. On the other hand, the shelf density in the evanescent region is always supercritical for the former case, and for the latter case it can be either subcriticai or supercritical, depending on the strengths of the incident laser intensity as well as the external magnetic field.