Broadband plasma absorber

Summary form only given, as follows. A tenuous plasma generated in a background gas at atmospheric pressure is highly collisional. The cold collisional dispersion relation was used to model electromagnetic effects. For a plasma generated by a point source such as an ultraviolet flash lamp the electron number density decreases as a function of distance from the source. An Epstein profile was used to model the plasma gradient. Calculations based on an Epstein profile quantify the reflection coefficient and absorption for propagation through the plasma as a function of frequency. These effects were quantified for air and noble gases. Generation of plasma can be achieved by photoionization of the organic vapor TMAE and containment in a thin shell Mylar structure. This containment vessel has low backscatter and is suitable for electromagnetic measurements