On radiation dynamics in plasma relativistic microwave amplifier at the edge of electron beam pulse

Abstract

We consider dynamics of radiation of a plasma microwave amplifier on a surface wave at the leading edge of the relativistic electron beam pulse. It has been shown that depending on the electron density of the plasma, different modes of operation of the amplifier are possible. At low plasma density, there is an early activation of the amplifier with large gain at the leading edge of the electron beam pulse and a significant decrease in the amplification of the signal when the electron energy reaches a plateau. With a higher plasma density, a later activation takes place with an almost constant output amplitude. The effect of ponderomotive force on plasmas was discussed.