Comparison of electric dipole and magnetic loop antennas for exciting whistler modes

Abstract

The excitation of low frequency whistler modes from different antennas has been investigated experimentally in a large laboratory plasma. One antenna consists of a linear electric dipole oriented across the uniform ambient magnetic field B0. The other antenna is an elongated loop with dipole moment parallel to B0. Both antennas are driven by the same rf generator which produces a rf burst well below the electron cyclotron frequency. The antenna currents as well as the wave magnetic fields from each antenna are measured. Both the antenna currents and the wave fields of the loop antenna exceed that of the electric dipole by two orders of magnitude. The conclusion is that loop antennas are far superior to dipole antennas for exciting large amplitude whistler modes, a result important for active wave experiments in space plasmas.