Filamentation Instability of Electromagnetic Radiation in Magnetized Plasma

The filamentation instability (FI) of electromagnetic waves traveling across an ambient magnetic field in a plasma has been investigated. The general dispersion relation of the FI growth rate in the presence of a perpendicular
dc
magnetic field has been derived, and an analytical expression for the growth rate in a weakly magnetized plasma has been obtained. The result shows reduction in the instability growth rate by the magnetic field.