Superfine Temporal Structure of the Microwave Burst on 21 April 2002: What Can We Learn about the Emission Mechanism?

Abstract

Zebra pattern is observed as a number of almost parallel bright and dark stripes in the dynamic spectrum of solar radio emission. Recent observations show that zebra patterns in the microwave range often have superfine temporal structure, when the zebra stripes consist of individual short pulses similar to millisecond spikes. In this article, the burst on 21 April 2002 is investigated. The burst with a distinct superfine structure was detected at the Huairou Station (China) in 2.6 – 3.8 GHz frequency range. It is found that the emission pulses are quasi-periodic, the pulse period is about 25 – 40 ms and decreases with an increase of the emission frequency. The degree of circular polarization of zebra pattern increases with an increase of the emission frequency, it varies from moderate (about 20%) to relatively high (>60%) values. The temporal delay between the signals with left- and right-handed polarization is not found. The conclusion is made that the emission is generated by plasma mechanism at the fundamental plasma frequency in a relatively weak magnetic field. The observed polarization of the emission is formed during its propagation due to depolarization effects. A model is proposed in which the superfine temporal structure is formed due to modulation of the emission mechanism by downward propagating MHD oscillations; this model allows us to explain the observed variation of the pulse period with the emission frequency.