PARAMAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF PLASMA PRODUCED BY A POWERFUL MICROWAVE BEAM

Experiments performed with plasma produced at the surface of an insula tor in vacuum by a powerful pulsed microwave radiation showed that thi s plasma formation (microwave plasma burst) exhibits paramagnetic prop erties, amplifying an externally applied axial magnetic field. The obs erved phenomenon is attributed to the nonlinear interaction of a power ful electromagnetic wave with the supercritical plasma produced by the wave in the resonance region of the plasma. (C) 1995 American Institu te of Physics.