Scattered light evidence for short density heights near critical density in laser-irradiated plasmas

Experimental evidence is presented of a steepened electron density profile near critical density obtained from studying the time-integrated scattered light from targets illuminated by linearly polarized, 1.06 ..mu.. light. Both 10 ..mu.. thick disks and DT-filled glass microshells were irradiated by light focused by f/1 or f/2.5 lenses in one and two-beam experiments, respectively. From the dependence of the asymmetry of the scattered light about the beam axis upon the scattering angle, scale lengths on the order of one micron are inferred. Scale lengths have also been deduced from measurements on the polarization state of the reflected light. Both analytic and numerical results are presented to show how the polarization state varies with the incidence angle and the scale length.