PROMINENT CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DECAY OF A PHOTOPLASMA GENERATED BY RADIATION FROM AN ANNULAR SLIDING DISCHARGE

The dynamics of the absorption of diagnostic microwave radiation in a decaying nitrogen photoplasma generated by a pulsed annular sliding di scharge is modeled numerically. It is shown that the microwave absorpt ion coefficient can vary nonmonotonically with time (as observed in th e majority of experimental studies) during recombinative plasma decay. The nonmonotonic behavior is attributed to gasdynamic processes induc ed by the annular sliding discharge, which cause the plasma region to expand along the axis of the sensing microwave beam. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S1063-7842(98)00907-6].