Abstract
Polarization properties of electromagnetic waves, double-passed through magnetized plasma, are studied. Analyses are performed in the case of non-interacting normal modes, propagating in homogeneous and weakly inhomogeneous plasmas, and for three kinds of reflectors: metallic plane, 2D corner retro-reflector (2D-CR), and cubic corner retro-reflector (CCR). It is shown that an electromagnetic wave, reflected from a metallic plane and from a CCR, contains only “velocity-preserving” channels, whose phases are doubled in comparison with those of a single-passage propagation. At the same time, an electromagnetic wave reflected from a 2D-CR is shown to contain both “velocity-preserving” and “velocity-converting” channels, the latter converting the fast wave into the slow one and vice-versa. One characteristic feature of “velocity-converting” channels is that they reproduce the initial polarization state near the source, which might be of practical interest for plasma interferometry. In the case of circularly polarized modes, “velocity-preserving” channels completely disappear, and only “velocity-converting” channels are to be found.
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Kravtsov, Y.A., Bieg, B. Double passage of electromagnetic waves through magnetized plasma: approximation of independent normal waves. centr.eur.j.phys. 8, 273–282 (2010). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11534-009-0128-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11534-009-0128-3