Magnetic field generation in a plasma produced through atomic ionization by circularly polarized radiation

We have established the dependences of the maximum Weibel instability growth rate and the corresponding wavenumber on the degree of anisotropy in the photoelectron distribution formed through tunnel atomic ionization in the field of a circularly polarized short laser pulse. We show how the relaxation of the initial distribution of photoelectrons due to their collisions with ions affects the pattern of generation of a quasi-static magnetic field.