Thin-film reflection properties of an anisotropic plasma slab immersed in a static magnetic field normal to the plane of incidence.

The reflection and transmission properties of an anisotropic plasma slab immersed in a static magnetic field normal to the plane of incidence are studied for the case of oblique incidence of a parallel-polarized plane wave. The emphasis is on 'the thin-film reflection properties', namely, the oscillations in the reflection coefficient due to constructive interference of internally reflected waves from the front and back surfaces of the slab geometry. The effect of the slab width, the angle of incidence and the strength of the magnetic field on the nature of the oscillations in the power reflection coefficient are discussed.
The general nature of variation of power reflection coefficient for the slab can be predicted from the nature of the characteristic root q<SUB1>. In the range of real q<SUB1> the power reflection coefficient <rgr> is oscillatory and the oscillations with increasing amplitude will be more and more crowded as q<SUB1> increases, finally giving rise to an infinite number of oscillations around the point where q<SUB1> is real and infinite. As q<SUB1> approaches asymptotically a value C (C= cos <thgr><SUBI>, where <thgr><SUBI> is the angle of incidence), the oscillations will be of decreasing amplitude and increasing width. When q<SUB1> equals C the value of <rgr> is zero. In the range of imaginary q<SUB1>, <pgr> is non-oscillatory. While in this range, <rgr> for the semi-infinite case is 1, <rgr> for the slab is less than 1, showing the tunnelling of power through the slab. <rgr> approaches 1 as the magnitude of imaginary q<SUB1> approaches infinity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]