Excitation of azimuthally propagating ion-cyclotron drift waves in a large magnetized plasma

The dispersion relations of ion-cyclotron drift waves strongly depend on both the axial and azimuthal wave numbers as well as the radial gradient of the plasma density. The dispersion surfaces of the waves have been shown graphically in order to determine the characteristics of ion-cyclotron drift waves. The azimuthally propagating electrostatic waves have been excited externally by a mesh grid in a large-diameter magnetoplasma. The measured azimuthal dispersion relations agree with the theoretical ones of ion-cyclotron drift waves. (author)