CO2 collective laser scattering on moving density perturbations in a plasma

CO/sub 2/ laser scattering from plasma density perturbations which are not wave-like in nature moving through the beam is calculated for various geometries and scale-lengths. Exact expressions are found for the heterodyne detector currents as a function of time, and for the corresponding frequency spectra. In particular, the cases of small-scale rotating density perturbations in cylindrical plasmas and off-axis rotation of the entire plasma column are analyzed in detail. By way of illustration, the theoretical results are compared with some measured scattering spectra from a magnetized ar