Impact of nonlinear plasma on surface wave propagation: analysis

The paper studies analytically the propagation of a surface TM mode along an infinite plane, delimiting an isotropic homogeneous plasma under the condition of weak striction and ionization nonlinearity and linear dielectric. Different forms of differential equations governing the electromagnetic field are presented. Two algorithms for their solution are employed, yielding the components of the guided mode and the nonlinear dispersion relation for it. Expressions are obtained for the additions to the field amplitudes in both semi-spaces, to wavenumber and to the power flow due to plasma nonlinearity. The results show the dependence of the characteristics of the shaped wave channel on the kind of nonlinearity and frequency.