Reflection of the Electromagnetic Wave from the Region of Electron Cyclotron Absorption in Thermonuclear Plasma

Abstract

A new approach to the problem of the passage of the extraordinary wave through the region of the electron–cyclotron resonance in inhomogeneous plasma was considered in the framework of the full set of Maxwell’s equations, taking into account the effects of spatial dispersion and resonance dissipation. For the model one-dimensional geometry, field distributions were calculated in the vicinity of the cyclotron resonance at the second harmonic for the normal incidence of the extraordinary wave and the reflection, transmission, and absorption coefficients were found depending on the parameters of the resonance region. As a result, the fine effect of the reflection of electromagnetic radiation from the cyclotron resonance region in transparent plasma was described and the results were compared with the observations of this effect in the experiments on the microwave heating of the plasma at the L-2M stellarator.