Dual-mode characteristics of the Buneman instability in a bounded slab plasma

Abstract

The dual-mode characteristics of the Buneman instability are investigated in a slab plasma, including the geometric effects. The dual symmetric and anti-symmetric dispersion modes of the Buneman instability are obtained by the plasma dielectric function with the spectral reflection conditions for the slab geometry. The result shows that the magnitudes of the growth rate for the symmetric mode are always greater than those for the anti-symmetric mode. It is also found that the geometric effect suppresses the position of the maximum growth rate for the Buneman instability in bounded slab plasmas since the maximum conditions for the symmetric and anti-symmetric modes of the Buneman instability are given by 0.60 ˂ k(z)v(0)/omega(pe) ˂ 0.65. The physical characteristics and properties of the dual modes of the Buneman instability are also discussed. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.