Excitation of surface plasma waves over corrugated slow-wave structure

A microwave propagating along vacuum—dielectric—plasma interface excites surface plasma wave (SPW). A periodic slow-wave structure placed over dielectric slows down the SPW. The phase velocity of slow SPW is sensitive to height, periodicity, number of periods, thickness and the separation between dielectric and slow-wave structure. These slow SPW can couple the microwave energy to the plasma and can sustain the discharge. The efficiency of the power coupling is few per cent and is sensitive to separation between dielectric and slow-wave structure.