Absolute and Convective Instabilities of Two-Plasmon Decay in an Inhomogeneous Magnetized Plasma

Three-wave resonant parametric decay instability of extraordinary wave decay into two upper hybrid waves in an inhomogeneous plasma is studied theoretically. Analytical expressions of the local absolute growth rate, convective amplification factor and threshold intensity are obtained. The calculated results show that the effects of magnetic field and k_y (k_y is the component of the wavenumber of upper hybrid wave perpendicular to pump wave k₀) on the growth rate, amplification factor and threshold intensity are extremely dependent on their strength. The absolute growth rate and convective amplification factor increase with the plasma density while the threshold decreases. Moreover, the expression indicates that the inhomogeneity scale length of density and linear damping will reduce the convective amplification factor.