Scattering of microwaves by a stratified overdense plasma at high collision frequencies

A study has been conducted, for several electron-density distributions, of the reflection of electromagnetic waves from stratified overdense plasmas in which the rate of collision frequency to incident frequency is large and the transmission negligible. With positive power profiles where the density changes slowly near the turning point, the reflection coefficient is small, whereas for inverse power profiles where the density gradient is large near the turning point, the reflection is large. In the case of a symmetric type of profile where the maximum density is finite, the results are dependent upon profile type. In an inverse profile type, the reflection is fairly sensitive to maximum density, decreasing with it. With a Gaussian distribution, reflection increases slowly with maximum density, whereas for a sech2 model, the reflection is, for the most part, independent of this parameter.