Guiding of an electromagnetic pulse in a plasma immersed in combined wiggler and axial magnetic fields

We present a new plasma-based method of guiding an electromagnetic pulse. The scheme consists of an inhomogeneous magnetic field and a uniform density plasma, in contrast to existing schemes that rely on transverse plasma density gradients but need not be magnetized. The refractive index of a magnetized plasma depends on the strength and direction of the magnetic field as well as the plasma density. A guiding channel is formed by using field inhomogeneity to generate the desired transverse profile of the index of refraction. The concept is analyzed with an envelope equation and, for the specific example of a wiggler magnetic field, with a two-dimension particle-in-cell simulation. A simplified model of this scheme as producing a magnetic wall in analogy to metallic waveguides is presented, for which corresponding approximate relations for the guided mode axial wavelength and radius are derived as functions of the plasma and magnetic field parameter. These are seen to be in good agreement with particle-in-cell simulation results. Since the desired inhomogeneity of the refractive index can be made easily when the electromagnetic wave frequency is close to the cyclotron frequency, this guiding scheme is most readily applied in the microwave regime. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. PACS: 52.25.Xz; 52.35.Hr; 52.38.Hb