Parasitic excitation of ion Bernstein waves from a Faraday-shielded fast wave loop antenna

Abstract

Parasitic excitation of ion Bernstein waves is observed from a Faraday-shielded fast wave loop antenna in the ion-cyclotron frequency range. Local analysis of the Vlasov–Maxwell equations demonstrates the role of the plasma density gradient in the coupling process. The effects of plasma density and of parallel wavenumber on the excitation process are investigated.