Nonlinear skin effect of high-power microwaves and a density-rarefaction wave in a collisionless magnetoplasma

Experimental results are presented which verify the nonlinear skin effect of high-power microwaves incident on a collisionless, uniform plasma having a sharp boundary. The skin depth, observed by microwave reflection techniques, increases with the incident microwave power. The results are compared with the theoretical analysis in which the radiation pressure due to the electromagnetic field is taken into account. It is also found that a density-rarefaction wave caused by an incident microwave propagates through an over-dense plasma at a velocity closer to that of the ion acoustic wave.