Abstract
Results are presented from experimental studies of the initial stage of an air discharge initiated in a linearly polarized quasi-optical microwave beam. The discharge was excited at an air pressure at which the electron-neutral collision frequency in the discharge plasma was considerably higher than the circular frequency of the electromagnetic field and at a microwave field amplitude close to the threshold field for air breakdown. The experiments revealed relatively bright plasma channels stretched along the microwave electric field. The development rate of these channels and their characteristic transverse dimensions are estimated. A comparison of the experimental data and theoretical estimates indicates that the channels observed arise due to the onset of thermal ionization instability in the microwave discharge plasma.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
L. P. Grachev, I. I. Esakov, G. I. Mishin, and A. B. Fedotov, Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 59(10), 149 (1989) [Sov. Phys. Tech. Phys. 34, 1181 (1989)].
I. I. Esakov, L. P. Grachev, and K. V. Khodataev, AIAA Pap., No. 05-989 (2005).
A. L. Vikharev, A. M. Gorbachev, A. V. Kim, and A. L. Kolysko, Fiz. Plazmy 18, 1064 (1992) [Sov. J. Plasma Phys. 18, 554 (1992)].
V. B. Gil’denburg and A. V. Kim, Fiz. Plazmy 6, 904 (1980) [Sov. J. Plasma Phys. 6, 496 (1980)].
L. P. Grachev, I. I. Esakov, and G. I. Mishin, Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 66(8), 73 (1996) [Tech. Phys. 41, 1204 (1996)].
L. P. Grachev, I. I. Esakov, K. V. Khodataev, and V. V. Tsyplenkov, Preprint MRTI AN SSSR (Moscow Radiotechnical Institute AN SSSR, Moscow, 1990).
L. P. Grachev, I. I. Esakov, K. V. Khodataev, and V. V. Tsyplenkov, Fiz. Plazmy 18, 411 (1992) [Sov. J. Plasma Phys. 18, 216 (1992)].
A. D. MacDonald, Microwave Breakdown in Gases (Wiley, New York, 1966; Mir, Moscow, 1969).
N. D. Borisov, A. V. Gurevich, and G. M. Milikh, Artificially Ionized Regions in the Atmosphere (Izd. Akad. Nauk SSSR, Moscow, 1986) [in Russian].
K. V. Khodataev, Fiz. Plazmy 21, 605 (1995) [Plasma Phys. Rep. 21, 570 (1995)].
Yu. P. Raizer, Gas Discharge Physics (Nauka, Moscow, 1992; Springer, Berlin, 1991).
A. V. Kim and G. M. Fraiman, Fiz. Plazmy 9, 613 (1983) [Sov. J. Plasma Phys. 9, 358 (1983)].
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Original Russian Text © V.L. Bychkov, L.P. Grachev, I.I. Isakov, 2007, published in Zhurnal Tekhnicheskoĭ Fiziki, 2007, Vol. 77, No. 3, pp. 1–6.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bychkov, V.L., Grachev, L.P. & Isakov, I.I. Thermal ionization instability of an air discharge plasma in a microwave field. Tech. Phys. 52, 289–295 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063784207030012
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063784207030012