Propagation of a surface microwave along the afterglow plasma column of a high-current pulsed discharge

Journal Article · Thu Sep 15 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Plasma Physics Reports

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063780X11070129· OSTI ID:22047508

Sergeichev, K F; Karfidov, D M ^[1]

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1. Russian Academy of Sciences, Prokhorov General Physics Institute (Russian Federation)

It is demonstrated experimentally that the lifetime of the afterglow plasma of a high-current pulsed discharge in a dielectric tube filled with a mixture of argon with saturated mercury vapor is longer than 1 ms. Such a long lifetime, during which the electron density decreases from 10{sup 14} to 10{sup 12} cm{sup -3}, is explained by the chemi-ionization of mercury vapor by long-lived metastable argon atoms. During this time, the afterglow plasma can serve as a microwave waveguide for a weakly damped low-noise E{sub 0}-type axisymmetric surface mode, which allows one to use it for transmission of signals in the centimeter wavelength range.

• OSTI ID: 22047508
• Journal Information: Plasma Physics Reports, Vol. 37, Issue 9; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2011 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1063-780X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
AFTERGLOW
ARGON
AXIAL SYMMETRY
ELECTRIC CURRENTS
ELECTRON DENSITY
IONIZATION
MERCURY
MICROWAVE RADIATION
PLASMA
PLASMA DIAGNOSTICS
VAPORS
WAVE PROPAGATION
WAVEGUIDES