Laboratory Observations on Electromagnetic Scattering from Plasma Instabilities.

Abstract

Laboratory observations were made of electromagnetic scattering from low pressure, low current dc discharges to test the assertion that low-frequency ion-acoustic waves can be observed and used for the simulation of naturally occurring instabilities. An analysis of the experimental parameters and circumstances shows that such waves should be observable, provided it is permissible to ignore the effect of collisions. Observations of the backscatter signal at X-band from nitrogen and helium discharges indicate that this is, indeed, the case. Large enhancements in the scattering cross sections, relative to the Thomson level, are observed as well as the Doppler spread and lines. The interpretation of the latter is generally consistent with the model of ion-acoustic waves being viewed by an uncollimated antenna. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 1973
Accession Number
AD0766959

Entities

People

  • T. Kaliszewski

Organizations

  • Battelle Memorial Institute

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acoustic Waves
  • Backscattering
  • Electromagnetic Scattering
  • Frequency
  • Instability
  • Observation
  • Plasma Instabilities
  • Scattering
  • Scattering Cross Sections
  • Waves
  • X Band

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Molecular Photonics/Laser Physics
  • Plasma Physics.
  • Radar Systems Engineering.