A Study of Plasma Applications in Microwave Circuits-II

摘要

These studies are concerned with the potential usefulness of plasmas in microwave structures, with or without a static magnetic field. Considerable attention is given to the plasma resonance isolator and to the design and fabrication of an improved plasma package specifically intended for microwave applications. The first part of the report contains the development of a first order theory for calculating the absorption in the electron cyclotron resonance isolator, and its equivalent circuit. Two theoretical models are used to describe the plasma-electromagnetic wave interaction and are found to produce equivalent results for the range of variables investigated. The experimental work on a rectangular plasma package is described in the second part of the report. Hydrogen and xenon gases are used in hot cathode discharges to produce a plasma, and plasma frequencies of more than 10 Gc are obtained. Plasma instabilities were found to be a serious problem.