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Physics of Plasmas / Volume 18 / Issue 11 / ARTICLES / Basic Plasma Phenomena, Waves, Instabilities

Phys. Plasmas 18, 112111 (2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3662113 (10 pages)

Ducted kinetic Alfvén waves in plasma with steep density gradients

Saeid Houshmandyar1,2 and Earl E. Scime2

1Solar Observatory Department, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, Texas 77446, USA
2Department of Physics, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia 26506-6315, USA

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(Received 2 September 2011; accepted 27 October 2011; published online 29 November 2011)

Given their high plasma density (n ∼ 1013 cm−3), it is theoretically possible to excite Alfvén waves in a conventional, moderate length (L ∼ 2 m) helicon plasma source. However, helicon plasmas are decidedly inhomogeneous, having a steep radial density gradient, and typically have a significant background neutral pressure. The inhomogeneity introduces regions of kinetic and inertial Alfvén wave propagation. Ion-neutral and electron-neutral collisions alter the Alfvén wave dispersion characteristics. Here, we present the measurements of propagating kinetic Alfvén waves in helium helicon plasma. The measured wave dispersion is well fit with a kinetic model that includes the effects of ion-neutral damping and that assumes the high density plasma core defines the radial extent of the wave propagation region. The measured wave amplitude versus plasma radius is consistent with the pile up of wave magnetic energy at the boundary between the kinetic and inertial regime regions.

© 2011 American Institute of Physics

Article Outline

  1. INTRODUCTION
  2. ALFVÉN WAVE THEORY
  3. EXPERIMENTAL APPARATUS
  4. ELECTROSTATIC FLUCTUATION MEASUREMENTS
  5. MAGNETIC FLUCTUATION MEASUREMENTS
  6. SUMMARY

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KEYWORDS and PACS

Keywords

plasma Alfven waves, plasma collision processes, plasma density, plasma diagnostics, plasma kinetic theory, plasma pressure, plasma sources

PACS

  • 52.35.Bj

    Magnetohydrodynamic waves (e.g., Alfven waves)

  • 52.50.Dg

    Plasma sources

  • 52.70.Gw

    Radio-frequency and microwave measurements

  • 52.20.Fs

    Electron collisions

  • 52.20.Hv

    Atomic, molecular, ion, and heavy-particle collisions

  • 52.25.Dg

    Plasma kinetic equations

ARTICLE DATA

Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3662113

PUBLICATION DATA

ISSN

1070-664X (print)  
1089-7674 (online)

Publisher

$abstract.society.value is a Member of CrossRef American Institute of Physics

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