ELECTROMAGNETIC-INSTABILITY IN AN ION-CHANNEL ELECTRON-CYCLOTRON MASER

A new plasma maser scheme, the ion-channel electron cyclotron maser (I CECM) is investigated, and the electromagnetic instability in the ICEC M is studied. Using three-dimensional perturbation theory, the dispers ion relation of the ICECM is derived in this paper. Analysis finds tha t three typical regions of electromagnetic instability exist in the IC ECM after considering the influence of the plasma wave, and some poten tial physical mechanisms for the instability are identified. In the Co mpton regime, an approximate calculation example for the instability g rowth rate is given. As a high-power short-wavelength electromagnetic radiation source, some evident advantages of ICECM in comparison with other electron cyclotron masers are shown.