Self-organized standing waves generated by AC-driven electron cyclotron drift instabilities
Abstract
The formation of self-organized standing wave structures is observed due to the electron cyclotron drift instability (ECDI) driven by a time-varying external electric field and a crossed magnetic field. Using a particle-in-cell simulation, two standing wave mechanisms are identified: the linear mode and the beating mode. In the former, a standing wave emerges as a superposition of two counterpropagating ion acoustic waves predicted by the linear theory of ECDI. On the other hand, in the beating mode, the plasma wave is in resonance with the applied frequency. Nonlinear resonance of such standing waves results in a change in the dominant wavenumber and frequency. Such counterpropagating plasma waves are consistent with the experimental observations using coherent Thomson scattering in a crossed-field plasma discharge.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Dec 02, 2019
- Source ID
- 10.1063/1.5131019
Entities
People
- Ian DesJardin
- Kentaro Hara
- Sédina Tsikata
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- National Science Foundation
- Stanford University
- United States Department of Energy
- University at Buffalo