Gap eigenmode of radially localised helicon waves in a periodic structure

Abstract

An ElectroMagnetic Solver (EMS) [Chen et al., Phys. Plasmas, 13, 123507 (2006)] is employed to model a spectral gap and a gap eigenmode in a periodic structure in the whistler frequency range. A Radially Localised Helicon (RLH) mode [Breizman and Arefiev, Phys. Rev. Lett, 84, 3863 (2000)] is considered. We demonstrate that the computed gap frequency and gap width agree well with a theoretical analysis, and find a discrete eigenmode inside the gap by introducing a defect to the system's periodicity. The axial wavelength of the gap eigenmode is close to twice the system's periodicity, which is consistent with Bragg's law. Such an eigenmode could be excited by energetic electrons, similar to the excitation of Toroidal Alfv\'{e}n Eigenmodes (TAE) by energetic ions in tokamaks.