Generation and propagation of electron cyclotron harmonic waves

The dispersion equation for electron cylotron harmonic waves (ECHW) is obtained, using Maxwellian distribution functions consisting of cold and hot components with parallel and perpendicular velocities, via Vlasov's and Poisson's equations. The distribution of parallel and perpendicular velocity ratios of the hot and cold plasma components provide energy sources for instability of these waves. The real part of the dispersion equation is used to illustrate the dispersion features of ECHW and the imaginary part to compute the ECHW decay rate. Variations of decay rate with wave and plasma parameters is studied. The IM 1/D1(omega, k) is a measure of spectral power of ECHW. Using the particle approach, the time averaged energy emitted in the form of ECHW is computed and its line shape is shown.