A large volume uniform plasma generator for the experiments of electromagnetic wave propagation in plasma

Abstract

A large volume uniform plasma generator is proposed for the experiments of electromagnetic (EM) wave propagation in plasma, to reproduce a “black out” phenomenon with long duration in an environment of the ordinary laboratory. The plasma generator achieves a controllable approximate uniform plasma in volume of 260 mm× 260 mm× 180 mm without the magnetic confinement. The plasma is produced by the glow discharge, and the special discharge structure is built to bring a steady approximate uniform plasma environment in the electromagnetic wave propagation path without any other barriers. In addition, the electron density and luminosity distributions of plasma under different discharge conditions were diagnosed and experimentally investigated. Both the electron density and the plasma uniformity are directly proportional to the input power and in roughly reverse proportion to the gas pressure in the chamber. Furthermore, the experiments of electromagnetic wave propagation in plasma are conducted in this plasma generator. Blackout phenomena at GPS signal are observed under this system and the measured attenuation curve is of reasonable agreement with the theoretical one, which suggests the effectiveness of the proposed method.