REFLECTION OF CIRCULARLY POLARIZED ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES FROM AN ANISOTROPIC PLASMA.
Abstract
The reflection of both right-hand and left-hand circularly polarized plane electromagnetic waves, normally incident along the direction of an imposed static magnetic field in an anisotropic plasma, was investigated. Detailed measurements at a frequency of 9.2 Gc of the intensity and phase of the wave reflected from a helium afterglow plasma over wide ranges of plasma frequency and electron cyclotron frequency were carried out. The measured reflected power varied from less than one percent of the incident power to complete reflection and large undulations in both intensity and phase of the reflected wave with changing electron density and magnetic field were observed. Comparison with theory based on a simple sharply bounded uniform plasma slab shows good agreement for the general nature of the dependence of the reflected wave on the plasma properties. The exact electron densities corresponding to the maxima and minima and the absolute values of the intensity and phase of the reflected wave are not accurately predicted by this simple theoretical model. In the region of the electron cyclotron frequency, for an incident right-hand circularly polarized wave, the reflected signal undergoes a reduced variation in phase and the intensity after attaining a maximum is observed to decrease with increasing electron density. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 1966
- Accession Number
- AD0642123
Entities
People
- B. W. Gibbs
- K. A. Graf
- M. P. Bachynski