Theoretical and Experimental Studies of Magnetic Field on Electromagnetic Wave Propagation in Plasma

A spacecraft will experience the well-known ``blackout'' problem in the re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, which results in communication failures between the spacecraft and ground control center. It is important to study the blackout mitigation method. The effects of external magnetic field on electromagnetic wave propagation in plasma are studied by theoretical and experimental methods in this paper. The numerical results show that the attenuation of electromagnetic wave in plasma is reduced by the presence of a magnetized field. The propagation properties of electromagnetic wave in unmagnetized and magnetized plasma have been studied experimentally with plasma torch, and the experimental results are in good agreement with the theory. Both the theoretical and experimental results indicate that magnetic window is an alternative and promising way to improve the radio blackout issue.