New Microwave Diagnostic Theory for Measurement of Electron Density in Atmospheric Plasmas

We present the phase shift of an electromagnetic wave passing through an atmospheric plasma layer. In this kind of plasma, the phase shift depends not only on the line average electron density and layer width, but also on the electron-neutral collision frequency. Since the collision frequency is close to or even larger than the incident microwave frequency, a one-dimensional code for the numerical solution of the wave equation with full time and space variables is established to give the phase shift. When the width and the pressure (hence the electron-neutral collision frequency) are known, the measurement of phase shift will uniquely determine the line average electrons density in an atmospheric plasma.