Transmission of Electromagnetic Waves through Plasma Slabs

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Abstract
The steady-state properties of circularly polarized electromagnetic waves propagating along a static magnetic field in plasmas characterized by a nonlocal conductivity are considered. The coupled Maxwell-Boltzmann equations are solved in the presence of short-range collisions for the wave which exhibits a resonance at frequencies near the electron cyclotron frequency. Expressions for the reflection and transmission of these waves for finite plasma slabs are obtained when the magnetic field is normal to the face of the slab. The expressions are explicitly evaluated and discussed for a wide range of physical parameters. The effect of temperature in the case of gaseous plasmas, and of degeneracy in the case of metals, on the transmission characteristics of the incident wave is twofold: At frequency below the cyclotron frequencies the position, width, and amplitude of the Fabry-Perot transmission resonances, which occur in plasmas characterized by a local conductivity are altered; at frequencies above the cyclotron frequencies anomalously large transmission occurs as a result of a "field-splash" type of resonance.