Electron cyclotron wave scattering by a probe launched ion acoustic wave

Abstract

Electromagnetic wave scattering in a plasma half-space from a propagating ion acoustic wave density perturbation with a transverse conducting boundary condition is analyzed. The analysis shows that there are two different types of scattered waves. One propagates only in the region where the plasma density is perturbed, its frequency and wave vector satisfies the conditions for a three-wave interaction process. The other propagates as an unperturbed electron cyclotron mode with either an upshifted or downshifted frequency. Experiments are performed to examine electron cyclotron wave scattering by an ion acoustic wave excited by means of a grid along the magnetic field line in a mirror machine. The backscattered waves propagating away from the density perturbation region are measured and their dependence on the ion acoustic wavelength is examined. The scattered wave in the region of ion acoustic wave propagation is examined by measuring the scattered wave field pattern when the ion acoustic wave number is much larger than that of the incident wave. The measurements demonstrate that the scattered waves indeed propagate as two different modes.