Excitation of ion cyclotron waves at the difference frequency of two microwave beams in a semiconductor

This paper presents an investigation of the resonant excitation of the electrostatic ion cyclotron wave at the difference frequency of two microwave beams propagating in a magnetoactive solid state plasma, viz. n InSb. The resonant excitation of the electrostatic ion cyclotron wave occurs when the difference frequency of the two microwave beams and the difference of their propagation vectors satisfy the dispersion relation corresponding to the electrostatic ion cyclotron wave. For typical plasma parameters of n InSb and microwave beams of power densities 1 MW cm^?2, the power density of the excited ion cyclotron wave is 0.40 kW cm^?2 when external magnetic field is $\text{1.46 kG (}\text{Ω}{}_{\mathrm{c}}\text{ω}\text{) = 0.1)}$. The power density of the excited ion cyclotron wave increases with the magnetic field. This study may provide new means for the characterisation and diagnostic of semiconductors.