Simulation of RF reflection from slightly irregular plasma sheets

Summary Form only given, as follows. The effects of small-magnitude irregularities of a variety of characteristic scales on the reflective properties of sheets of highly collisional plasma are of interest in the design of a RF transmission system that uses these sheets as reflectors. The phase perturbation of the reflected wavefront induced by the presence of these irregularities has been calculated using both a ray-based perturbational approach and a finite-difference full-wave technique. The effects of absorption within the plasma sheet on the phase perturbation have been found to be small. The results of the two techniques have been compared for a wide range of irregularity scales and several values of v/ omega , yielding a prescription of choosing a technique on the basis of the ratio of incident wavelength to irregularity scale and plasma layer depth. The effect of the phase perturbation on the shape and intensity of the reflected RF beam has been calculated, and the contribution of the irregularities has been compared to RF beam distortion and attenuation due to diffraction and collisional absorption, resulting in a simple delineation of the regime where the effects of irregularities must be considered in predicting system performance.<>