ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES IN A BOUNDED, ANISOTROPIC PLASMA

Abstract

The interaction of a plane, electromagnetic wave with a flat, uniform free-space – plasma interface in a static magnetic field has been considered for arbitrary angles of incidence. The dispersion relation for the plasma is a complex quartic equation which reduces to a quadratic if the static magnetic field and plasma boundary are oriented along any one of the rectangular co-ordinate axes. (These axes need not simultaneously be the same for the plasma and the magnetic field.)Numerical results are presented for the attenuation and phase constants for each of the two possible waves in the plasma, for each orientation of the static magnetic field. Data are given for various angles of incidence, plasma properties, and orientations of the static magnetic field relative to the plasma boundary.Inspection of the fields in the plasma reveals some interesting aspects. In certain cases, waves which appear to move upward towards the plasma interface exist. Since these waves may carry energy into the plasma, they have been referred to as "backward" waves. Totally reflected waves which have both finite attenuation and finite phase coefficients can also exist in the plasma. These have been termed "modified Sommerfeld" waves.