Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 2806–2809 (2001)Conversion of Electrostatic to Electromagnetic Waves by Superluminous Ionization FrontsReceived 11 August 2000; published in the issue dated 26 March 2001 The conversion of static electric fields to electromagnetic radiation by the incidence of a superluminous ionization front on plasma is investigated. For extremely superluminous fronts, the radiation is close to the plasma frequency and is converted with efficiency of order unity. A proof-of-principle experiment was conducted using semiconductor plasma containing an alternately charged capacitor array. The process has important implications in astrophysical plasmas, such as supernova emission, and to laboratory development of compact, coherent, tunable radiation sources in the THz range. © 2001 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.2806
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.2806
PACS:
52.35.-g
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