Parasitic modulation of electromagnetic signals caused by time-varying plasma

Abstract

An experiment on the propagation of electromagnetic (EM) signals in continuous time-varying plasma is described. The time-varying characteristics of plasma are considered to cause a parasitic modulation in both amplitude and phase, and the strength of this modulation, which carries the information of the electron density profile, is closely related to the plasma frequency and the incident wave frequency. Through theoretical analysis, we give an explanation and mechanism of the interaction between the continuous time-varying plasma and EM waves, which is verified by a comparative analysis with experiments performed under the same conditions. The effects of this modulation on the EM signals in the plasma sheath cannot be ignored.