SMM analysis of reflection, absorption, and transmission from nonuniform magnetized plasma slab

An new analytical technique for obtaining a complete set of reflection, absorption, and transmission coefficients for a stratified plasma slab is presented, named the scattering matrix method (SMM). The nonuniform magnetized plasma slab is modeled by a number of subslabs. Each subslab has a fixed electron density. The overall density profile across the whole slab follows any practical distribution function. Because the field in each subslab can be represented by the sum of the reflected and incident components, the partial reflection and transmission coefficients can be obtained by successively matching boundary conditions at all interfaces. The partial and total reflected, absorbed, and transmitted powers as the functions of the electron density, collision frequency, and electron cyclotron frequency for typical parabolic and exponential density profiles are investigated.