Award Date

May 2017

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (MSEE)

Department

Electrical and Computer Engineering

First Committee Member

Robert A. Schill

Second Committee Member

Pushkin Kachroo

Third Committee Member

Yahia Baghzouz

Fourth Committee Member

William Culbreth

Number of Pages

199

Abstract

In this thesis, the disruption of an incoming external transverse electromagnetic wave by an inhomogeneous plasma with energetic electron beam is examined. The plasma-beam characteristics are motivated by theory and experiment. Wave-plasma interactions and wave propagation and reflection in and from a plasma medium is studied. Physical sources such as the plate current density are considered. The inhomogeneity of the plasma slab supporting the energetic electron beam is partially built into the supported fields. The wave-plasma-beam interaction is examined over a wide parameter space. Absorption or reflection of electromagnetic waves can be achieved by changing the plasma number density, collision frequency, beam number density, and the Gaussian nature of the beam and slab thickness. Under appropriate condition in the presence of an energetic electron beam supported by the plasma slab, the externally generated wave incident on and exciting the slab can resonate with the beam. Although insignificant for the parameters studied, this becomes apparent when the operation frequency (both the wave and the beam) approaches the electron plasma frequency. Initial studies conducted have not exhausted all possible parameter space scenarios and physics mechanisms. Based on the results obtained, more involved investigations are warranted.

Keywords

Disruption; Electron beam; EM waves; Plasma; Propagation

Disciplines

Engineering

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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Engineering Commons

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