Excitation of Electrostatic Waves in Non-Uniform Magnetoplasmas.
Abstract
In order to understand the experimentally observed stabilization of a plasma column by high frequency fields, the process of r-f plasma excitation and energy absorption is analyzed rigorously. The electric field excited in a non-uniform magnetoplasma slab (with B perpendicular to the density gradient) by an external source is calculated, and the impedance presented by a grid-plasma system is found. Electrostatic waves which propagate across the magnetic field parallel to the density gradient are considered and particular attention is paid to frequencies close to the upper hybrid frequency. An integral equation in wave number space, which is exact within the assumption of neutrality and of low plasma pressure, is derived for the electric field, and it is shown that a variational principle exists for the admittance of the grid-plasma system. In addition, a differential equation for E(k) is found. These two methods take the entire real k-axis into account, and therefore it is possible to formulate a validity criterion for the long wavelength method used in most previous work. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1971
- Accession Number
- AD0728652
Entities
People
- John Howard Brownell
Organizations
- Stanford University