Space chamber experiments of Ohmic heating by high power microwave from the solar power satellite

Abstract

It is quantitatively predicted that a high power microwave from the Solar Power Satellite (SPS) nonlinearly interacts with the ionospheric plasma. The possible nonlinear interactions are ohmic heating, self‐focusing and parametric instabilities. A rocket experiment called MINIX (Microwave‐Ionosphere Nonlinear Interaction Experiment) has been attempted to examine these effects, but is not reported here. In parallel to the rocket experiment, a laboratory experiment in a space plasma simulation chamber has been carried out in order to examine ohmic heating in detail and to develop a system of the rocket experiment. Interesting results were observed and these results were utilized to revise the system of the rocket experiments. A significant microwave heating of plasma up to 150 % temperature increase was observed with little electron density decrease. It was shown that the temperature increase is not due to the RF breakdown but to the ohmic heating in the simulated ionospheric plasma. These microwave effects have to be taken into account in the SPS Project in the future.