Numerical study of surface electromagnetic waves in the plasmatron discharge

Absfract - The paper presents a theoretical study of electromagnetic waves propagating in the microwave plasmatron discharge. It is assumed, that the discharge under consideration represents hounded cold isotropic plasma, which has a shape of a finite-length cylinder and is characterized by certain specific parameters. We derive the dispersion relation based on cold fluid model and numerically solve it. The results of the analysis show that the surface waves can he effectively slowed within a wide range of frequencies, especially in a case of thin plasma cylinder. The phase velocity of the surface waves can he as slow as