PROPAGATION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES IN PLANAR BOUNDED PLASMA REGION

Abstract

This paper aims at developing a technique to calculate the reflection, absorption, and transmission of electromagnetic waves by a bounded plasma region. The model chosen for this study is a magnetized, steady-state, two-dimensional, nonuniform plasma slab, which is presented by a number of parallel flat layers. It is assumed that the electron density is constant in each layer such that the overall electron density profile across the slab follows any prescribed distribution function. The proposed technique is referred to as Scattering Matrix Model (SMM). The fields in each layer are written in the form of summation of the appropriate eigen functions weighted by unknown scattering coefficients. These coefficients are determined via the application of the appropriate boundary conditions at each interface. The effect of varying the wave frequency and the plasma parameters on the reflected, transmitted, and absorbed powers are presented and discussed.