Electron temperature effects on the eigenmodes of a plasma waveguide

Abstract

The effect of finite electron temperature on the excitation of eigenmodes of a plasma loaded cylindrical waveguide is investigated. In the analysis, a nonlinear wave equation is derived using the linearized fluid equations along with Maxwell’s equations. The general result obtained for the annular plasma column is then reduced to be used for the case in which the plasma column fills the entire waveguide as well as for a partially filled configuration. Dispersion relations for electromagnetic and electrostatic modes are solved numerically to study the effect of electron thermal velocity on the characteristics of azimuthally symmetrical eigenmodes. The numerical studies show that the thermal motion of electrons shifts the frequencies of the perturbed transverse magnetic waveguide and those of cyclotron plasma modes toward higher values.