Nonlinear broadband doubling of the extraordinary wave frequency in inhomogeneous magnetoactive plasma

Abstract

The nonlinear resonance doubling of radio wave frequencies in inhomogeneous plasma is studied as applied to the ionosphere under the conditions of the phase synchronism between an extraordinary pump wave and its second harmonic. The synchronism is not related to plasma resonances, but is determined by the magnetic field and plasma electron density in the transparency region. The generation efficiency of the second harmonic of a transversely propagating wave is calculated for a wide frequency band lying higher than the lower hybrid resonance frequency. It is shown that this effect is physically analogous to the generation of the second harmonic of laser radiation in a nonlinear crystal. The generation efficiency of the second harmonic is determined for inhomogeneous ionospheric plasma in which the synchronism condition is satisfied in a limited frequency range. It is shown that this effect can be used for remote nonlinear diagnostics of the upper ionospheric plasma, in which the characteristic size of the synchronism region can reach several kilometers. It is proposed to use a combination of satellite and ground-based ion probes in experiments on transionospheric probing. Even if the frequency of the wave emitted from the satellite is lower than the critical frequency in the ionosphere, the frequency of its second harmonic can exceed the critical frequency, so that it can be recorded by a ground-based ion probe or a specially designed receiver. The reflected second-harmonic signal can also be detected at the satellite by using a broadband radio-frequency spectrometer.