Observation of inverse ion-cyclotron damping induced by parallel-velocity shear.
The generation of broadband multiharmonic spectra of electrostatic ion-cyclotron waves is demonstrated in a magnetized laboratory plasma in which shear in the magnetic-field-aligned (parallel) ion flow and a relative parallel electron drift are present. Shear correlates with an increased number of harmonics and a decreased electron drift speed. Wave and particle measurements indicate that cyclotron damping is reduced and even becomes negative. The fluctuations in the time domain are spiky, similar to electric-field fluctuations observed both in Earth's auroral zone and in numerical simulations.
Teodorescu
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Physics Department, West Virginia University, Morgantown 26506-6315, USA.
Reynolds
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Koepke
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