Propagation of potential surface waves in non-homogeneous plasmas at the plasma resonance in the transition layer

Abstract

An investigation is made of surface-wave damping due to collisions in a narrow transition layer between plasmas with opposite dielectric permeabilities in a region where the wave frequency is close to the Langmuir frequency of the plasma electrons. Dispersion equations, taking the damping into account, and expressions for resonance absorption of the wave have been obtained both for plane and cylindrical geometries. The process of linear transformation of surface waves, caused by the initial perturbation, into Langmuir oscillations in the region of a strongly inhomogeneous plasma is also studied. It has been demonstrated that surface waves, for a period of time determined by the width of the transition region, are transformed into longitudinal oscillations concentrated in the transition layer and directed along the plasma-density gradient.