CROSS-POLARIZATION SCATTERING FROM LOW-FREQUENCY WAVES IN A TANDEM MIRROR PLASMA

Cross-polarization scattering (CPS) diagnostic was applied to the cent ral-cell plasma of the GAMMA 10 tandem mirror in order to study electr omagnetic plasma waves with frequencies of less than 200 kHz. In the C PS process, an incident ordinary (extraordinary) wave is converted to an extraordinary (ordinary) wave by magnetic fluctuations in a plasma. The converted wave propagates through the cutoff layer and reaches th e opposite diagnostic port. The experimental data suggest that the pow er spectral density of the CPS signal satisfies the Bragg condition, w hile the reflectometer detects the waves near the cutoff layer where t he wave number cannot be resolved.