Generalized theory of helicon waves. II. Excitation and absorption

Helicon waves in a plasma confined by a cylinder are treated. The undamped normal modes of the helicon (H) and Trivelpiece-Gould (TG) waves have distinctly different wave patterns at high magnetic fields but at low fields have similar patterns and therefore interact strongly. Damping of these modes, their excitation by antennas, and the rf plasma absorption efficiency are considered. Nonuniform plasmas are treated by solving a fourth-order ordinary differential equation numerically. A significant difference between this and earlier codes which divide the plasma into uniform shells is made clear. Excitation of the weakly damped H wave, followed by conversion to the strongly damped TG wave which leads to high helicon discharge efficiency, is examined for realistic density profiles. A reason for the greater heating efficiency of the m=+1 vs the m=-1 mode for axially peaked profiles is provided. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.