Coupling of Transverse and Longitudinal Waves below the Second Electron Cyclotron Harmonic

Abstract

A theory is developed for the behavior of the field due to a transverse wave, with propagation direction and electric field perpendicular to the static magnetic field, incident on a nonuniform plasma half-space. The transmission and reflection coefficients are computed for frequencies below the second cyclotron harmonic. It is shown that the coupling to the plasma wave is efficient only if the width of the region in which the density increases from zero to its maximum value is of the order of or less than a free-space wavelength.