Mode conversion and electron heating near the upper hybrid resonance frequency

Abstract

Mode conversion near the upper hybrid resonance frequency and electron heating are studied using a one-dimensional electromagnetic relativistic particle code. It is found that for a sufficiently small pump field E/sub 0/, E/sub 0//sup 2//4..pi..nT/sub e/ less than or equal to 0.01, electron heating is localized in a region near the electron cyclotron layer where the pump frequency is equal to the local electron gyrofrequency. For stronger pump fields, electron heating takes place more or less uniformly across a region between the upper hybrid resonance layer and the cyclotron layer. In addition, a significant fraction of electromagnetic energy associated with the pump is found to be reflected back into the vacuum from a region in the plasma near the upper hybrid resonance layer for both strong (E/sub 0//sup 2//4..pi..nT/sub e/ approx. = 1) and weak pumps (E/sub 0//sup 2//4..pi..nT/sub e/ << 1).