Band gap characteristics of plasma with periodically varying external magnetic field

The reflectance characteristics of a one-dimensional periodically magnetized plasma structure is studied by using the transfer matrix method. It is found that this system has the band gap characteristics of photonic crystals, so we also name it a plasma photonic crystal. The results show that the gap location and gap width can be controlled by the incident angle. If the external magnetic field is small, the gap location and gap width change significantly with incident angle, while they change only slightly when the external magnetic field is sufficiently large. The collision frequency has little effect on the gap location and gap width while it makes the amplitude of reflectance and transmission decrease. This new type of plasma photonic crystal could have potential applications in designing tunable photonic crystal devices.

► A new type of plasma photonic crystal consisting of periodically magnetized plasma is proposed.
► The gap location and width can be controlled by the incident angle and the external magnetic field.
► The collision frequency has little effect on the gap location and width while it makes the amplitude of reflectance and transmission decrease.