Volume 42, Nº 7 (2016)

A theory of generation of terahertz radiation in the interaction of a femtosecond laser pulse with a spherical cluster is developed for the case in which the density of free electrons in the cluster plasma exceeds the critical value. The spectral, angular, and energy characteristics of the emitted terahertz radiation are investigated, as well as its spatiotemporal structure. It is shown that the directional pattern of radiation has a quadrupole structure and that the emission spectrum has a broad maximum at a frequency nearly equal to the reciprocal of the laser pulse duration. It is found that the total radiated energy depends strongly on the cluster size. Analysis of the spatiotemporal profile of the terahertz signal shows that it has a femtosecond duration and contains only two oscillation cycles.

The possibility of the low-threshold decay of an ordinary wave into an upper hybrid wave localized in a plasma column (or in an axisymmetric plasma filament) and a low-frequency wave is analyzed. It is shown that the threshold for such a decay, accompanied by the excitation of an ion-acoustic wave, can easily be overcome for plasma parameters typical of model experiments on the Granit linear plasma facility.

Reasons for the occurrence of microwave noise at the output of a plasma relativistic amplifier have been analyzed. It is found that, in the absence of an input signal, the emission spectrum of the plasma relativistic microwave amplifier is similar to that of an electron beam in vacuum. It is concluded that microwave noise at the output of the amplifier appears as a result of amplification of the intrinsic noise of the electron beam. The emission characteristics of a relativistic electron beam formed in a magnetically insulated diode with an explosive emission cathode in vacuum have been studied experimentally for the first time. An important point is that, in this case, there is no virtual cathode in the drift space.

A three-component phenomenological model describing the specific features of the spectrum of cosmic-ray protons and helium nuclei in the rigidity range of 30–2×10⁵ GV is proposed. The first component corresponds to the constant background; the second, to the variable “soft” (30–500 GV) heliospheric source; and the third, to the variable “hard” (0.5–200 TV) source located inside a local bubble. The existence and variability of both sources are provided by the corresponding “surfatron accelerators,” whose operation requires the presence of an extended region with an almost uniform (in both magnitude and direction) magnetic field, orthogonally (or obliquely) to which electromagnetic waves propagate. The maximum energy to which cosmic rays can be accelerated is determined by the source size. The soft source with a size of ∼100 AU is located at the periphery of the heliosphere, behind the front of the solar wind shock wave. The hard source with a size of >0.1 pc is located near the boundary of an interstellar cloud at a distance of ∼0.01 pc from the Sun. The presence of a kink in the rigidity spectra of p and He near 230 GV is related to the variability of the physical conditions in the acceleration region and depends on the relation between the amplitudes and power-law exponents in the dependences of the background, soft heliospheric source, and hard near galactic source. The ultrarelativistic acceleration of p and He by an electromagnetic wave propagating in space plasma across the external magnetic field is numerically analyzed. Conditions for particle trapping by the wave and the dynamics of the particle velocity and momentum components are considered. The calculations show that, in contrast to electrons and positrons (e⁺), the trapped protons relatively rapidly escape from the effective potential well and cease to accelerate. Due to this effect, the p and He spectra are softer than that of e⁺. The possibility that the spectra of accelerated protons deviate from standard power-law dependences due to the surfatron mechanism is discussed.

Investigations of high-voltage open discharge in helium have shown a possibility of generation of current pulses with subnanosecond front rise, due to ultra-fast breakdown development. The open discharge is ignited between two planar cathodes with mesh anode in the middle between them. For gas pressure 6 Torr and 20 kV applied voltage, the rate of current rise reaches 500 A/(cm² ns) for current density 200 A/cm² and more. The time of breakdown development was measured for different helium pressures and a kinetic model of breakdown in open discharge is presented, based on elementary reactions for electrons, ions and fast atoms. The model also includes various cathode emission processes due to cathode bombardment by ions, fast atoms, electrons and photons of resonant radiation with Doppler shift of frequency. It is shown, that the dominating emission processes depend on the evolution of the discharge voltage during the breakdown. In the simulations, two cases of voltage behavior were considered: (i) the voltage is kept constant during the breakdown; (ii) the voltage is reduced with the growth of current. For the first case, the exponentially growing current is maintained due to photoemission by the resonant photons with Doppler-shifted frequency. For the second case, the dominating factor of current growth is the secondary electron emission. In both cases, the subnanosecond rise of discharge current was obtained. Also the effect of gas pressure on breakdown development was considered. It was found that for 20 Torr gas pressure the time of current rise decreases to 0.1 ns, which is in agreement with experimental data.

The effect of an external magnetic field on the dynamics of shock waves generated in an argon plasma due to both explosive processes on the cathode and expansion of the spark channel has been studied experimentally. It is shown that the expanding plasma of the cathode spot forms a shock wave and that the application of a longitudinal magnetic field decelerates the radial expansion of the cathode plasma. It is found that the intensities of some argon spectral lines increase in the presence of a magnetic field.

A pulse-periodic 2.45-GHz electron-cyclotron resonance plasma source on the basis of a permanent- magnet mirror trap has been constructed and tested. Variations in the discharge parameters and the electron temperature of argon plasma have been investigated in the argon pressure range of 1 × 10^–4 to 4 × 10^–3 Torr at a net pulsed input microwave power of up to 600 W. The plasma electron temperature in the above ranges of gas pressures and input powers has been measured by a Langmuir probe and determined using optical emission spectroscopy (OES) from the intensity ratios of spectral lines. The OES results agree qualitatively and quantitatively with the data obtained using the double probe.

The results of computer simulations of the electron-optical system of an electron gun with a plasma emitter are presented. The simulations are performed using the KOBRA3-INP, XOOPIC, and ANSYS codes. The results describe the electron beam formation and transport. The electron trajectories are analyzed. The mechanisms of gas influence on the energy inhomogeneity of the beam and its current in the regions of beam primary formation, acceleration, and transport are described. Recommendations for optimizing the electron-optical system with a plasma emitter are presented.