The one atmosphere glow discharge as a detector of millimeter radiation

Summary form only given, as follows. Previous work has showed that the one atmosphere glow discharge is a broad-band absorber of microwave radiation. The absorbed radiation causes fluctuations in the discharge current. The change in the discharge current is a direct measure of the incident wave power. The fact that the plasma is generated at atmospheric pressure renders this type of glow discharge a very practical detector of millimeter waves. Also, since the amount of power attenuation (in dB) of a wave propagating through a uniform plasma at atmospheric pressure is proportional to the ratio of the plasma number density and the collision frequency, the former or the latter can be accurately determined if either quantity is measured by another diagnostics.