Deeply undercritical microwave discharge excited by the field of a quasi-optical electromagnetic beam in a supersonic air jet

Electric discharge in a supersonic air jet is studied. It is ignited in a linearly polarized quasi-optical microwave electromagnetic beam the initial field intensity of which is much lower than the breakdown level. Electric breakdown is initiated by a tubular electromagnetic vibrator, one end of which has spikes and is covered by a quartz tube. Atmospheric air enters into a low-pressure working chamber through the inner channel of the vibrator. As a result, an immersed supersonic air jet forms in the chamber at the outlet from the quartz tube. A microwave discharge ignited in this jet is “attached” to aft spikes of the vibrator. The energy deposit into the discharge plasma and the effective area of energy interaction between the discharge and excited microwave field are estimated from the temperature and stagnation pressure distributions in the wake of the discharge.     

Electric discharge in air in a deeply subcritical field of a quasi-optical microwave beam

We describe the results of experiments on initiation of an electric discharge in air in a quasi-optical microwave beam by an electromagnetic vibrator fixed above the screen. This method for initiating the electrical breakdown makes it possible to obtain a discharge at a level of the electric field component in the microwave, which two orders of magnitude lower than the minimal critical field of the electrodeless breakdown of air. In our experiments, the threshold value of the air pressure determining the low- and high-temperature forms of the microwave discharge are determined depending on the field level.     

Self-consistent modelling of argon microwave discharge sustained by electromagnetic wave in dipole mode

Microwave discharges produced by travelling/standing electromagnetic waves have drawn considerable attention in recent years due to their wide application in microelectronic industry. Here are presented the axial distributions of the electrons and ions as well as those of excited atoms in an argon microwave discharge at a low gas pressure (400 mTorr) sustained by a 2.45 GHz travelling dipolar electromagnetic wave. The numerical calculations are based on a self-consistent kinetic-electrodynamic model and the results obtained are in a good agreement with the experimental data. The model yields also the magnitude of the wave power sustaining the discharge and the axial profiles of all electromagnetic-wave characteristics and the axial distribution of the neutral gas temperature.     

Nondispersive electromagnetic beams in plasmas

We prove that different modes of nondispersive electromagnetic beams can propagate in a stationary isotropic plasma. But, a stationary plasma in a uniform magnetic field may only support a mode at frequencies less than the angular cyclotron frequency.Received: 12 June 2003, Published online: 9 September 2003PACS: 43.20.Bi Mathematical theory of wave propagation - 41.20.Jb Electromagnetic wave propagation; radiowave propagation - 52.35.Hr Electromagnetic waves (e.g., electron-cyclotron, Whistler, Bernstein, upper hybrid, lower hybrid)     

Powerful electromagnetic millimeter-wave oscillations produced by stimulated scattering of microwave radiation by relativistic electron beams

The stimulated scattering of electromagnetic waves in microwave generators, in which a high-current electron beam excites either a backward wave (BWO) or a quasi-critical frequency wave (orotron) is investigated experimentally. The scattering occurs at the same electron beam and the high-frequency feedback is provided by the inhomogeneities of the electrodynamic system of the microwave generator itself. A power of several tens of megawatts has been achieved in the 3-mm range. The mode selection permitted to obtain single-mode scattering.     

Polarization properties of stochastic electromagnetic beams

The behavior of the degree of polarization of a Gaussian Schell-model beam propagating in free space is investigated. Contour diagrams for the degree of polarization, and for the spectral density (‘intensity’) of the polarized and the unpolarized portions of the beam are presented.     

Polarization of completely coherent random electromagnetic beams

It is shown that the spectral degree of polarization rho(r, omega) of a fluctuating electromagnetic beam which is completely coherent throughout a domain D is necessarily the same at every point in D. It can take on any value in the range 0 < or = rho < or = 1. In particular, the fully coherent beam can be completely polarized or completely unpolarized throughout D.     

Propagation characteristics of stochastic electromagnetic array beams

A stochastic electromagnetic array beam that is generated by an electromagnetic Gaussian Schell-model source is introduced by using tensor method. An analytical expression for the cross-spectral density matrix of the stochastic electromagnetic array beam propagating in a paraxial ABCD optical system is derived after performing vector integration. Some numerical calculations are illustrated for the propagation characteristics of such an array beam in free space and fractional Fourier transform (FRFT) system as application examples.     

Generalized stokes parameters of random electromagnetic beams

A generalization of the Stokes parameters of a random electromagnetic beam is introduced. Unlike the usual Stokes parameters, which depend on one spatial variable, the generalized Stokes parameters, depend on two spatial variables. They obey precise laws of propagation, both in free space and in any linear medium, whether deterministic or random. With the help of the generalized Stokes parameters, the changes in the ordinary Stokes parameters upon propagation can be determined. Numerical examples of such changes are presented. The generalized Stokes parameters contain information not only about the polarization properties of the beam but also about its coherence properties. We illustrate this fact by expressing the degree of coherence of the electromagnetic beam in terms of one of the generalized Stokes parameters.     

Ignition of a nonresonant microwave discharge

The ignition of a 2.45 GHz microwave plasma source by a temporary local magnetic field quenching to ECR value has been studied. The source operates at high magnetic fields (ω_ce > ω) and at overcritical electron densities (ω_pe > ω). This ignition method appears to be attractive also for microwave plasma sources in toroidal devices.     

Spatial structures of continuous microwave discharge

The paper deals with the results of investigations of spatial structures of continuous microwave discharge in a quasi-optical resonator. The results are given of experimental observations and easurements of the parameters of plasma in discharges of different forms, and the reasons are analyzed for the formation of spatial discharge structures. It is demonstrated that, as a result of the plasma-resonance amplification of the field, the discharge makes a transition to the contracted state with a size that is much less than the microwave-frequency wavelength and with an electron concentration in excess of the critical. It is found that the stratification of the contracted state across the electric field vector, which arises in some gases, is caused by the development of thermoelectric-current instability that was not previously observed in microwave discharges.     

Mechanisms of microwave surface discharge propagation

A microwave discharge propagating over the surface of a dielectric antenna is studied. It is experimentally shown that the velocity of discharge propagation over the surface is maximal early in microwave pulse application and grows with the applied power. The breakdown wave defines the velocity of the discharge at its early stages (t = 1–3 μs). Ambipolar diffusion governs the discharge propagation at the stage of its evolution (t= 3–100 μs), and, finally, slow surface combustion is possible only at the stationary stage of the discharge (t > 100 μs). The electric field is localized in a thin (∼1 mm) surface layer. High values of the reduced electric field, E/n = 100–500 Td, provide efficient energy deposition to the plasma, i.e., favor the rapid heating of the gas and the efficient generation of charged particles. This makes the discharge promising for hypersonic aerodynamics.     

Surface microwave discharge in high-speed air-hydrocarbon flows

The influence of nonequilibrium plasma of the surface microwave discharge on the ignition of supersonic (M = 2) propane-air flow, as well as alcohol, benzene, and kerosene for sub- and supersonic air flow is studied.