MICROWAVE PONDEROMOTIVE FORCES IN SOLID-STATE IONIC PLASMAS

Numerous observations have been reported in the literature of enhanced mass transport and solid-state reaction rates during microwave heatin g of a variety of ceramic, glass, and polymer materials. An explanatio n for these controversial observations has eluded researchers for over a decade. This paper describes a series of recent experimental and th eoretical investigations that provide an explanation for these intrigu ing observations in terms of ponderomotive forces acting on mobile ion ic species. The ponderomotive phenomenon, like its conventional-plasma analog, can be described in the continuum model limit by combining th e continuity, Poisson's, and transport equations. However, the solid-s tate plasma version typically manifests as a result of gradients in mo bile charge mobility (e.g., near physical surfaces or interfaces), whe reas the conventional plasma ponderomotive transport is typically a co nsequence of gradients in the radiation field intensity. Both cases ca n be captured in a single, general, mathematical articulation develope d in terms of the mobile particle fluxes. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.