  By using the AdS/CFT correspondence we study the deep inelastic scattering of
an R-current off a N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills (SYM) plasma at finite
temperature and strong coupling. Within the supergravity approximation valid
when the number of colors is large, we compute the structure functions by
solving Maxwell equations in the space-time geometry of the AdS_5 black
three-brane. We find a rather sharp transition between a low energy regime
where the scattering is weak and quasi-elastic, and a high-energy regime where
the current is completely absorbed. The critical energy for this transition
determines the plasma saturation momentum in terms of its temperature T and the
Bjorken x variable: Q_s=T/x. These results suggest a partonic picture for the
plasma where all the partons have transverse momenta below the saturation
momentum and occupation numbers of order one.
