Parametric instabilities in helicon-produced plasmas

Parametric instabilities arising in the pump field of a helicon wave are analyzed for typical parameters of helicon-produced plasmas. The pump wavenumber parallel to the magnetic field is assumed to be finite according to recent experimental findings obtained on a high-density helicon discharge. The parametric decay of the helicon pump wave into ion-sound and Trivelpiece-Gould waves is investigated. The approach takes into account that the damping rate of the Trivelpiece-Gould wave is generally much higher than the ion-sound frequency. The theoretical results are in agreement with the growth rates and thresholds of this instability, as well as the dispersion properties of the decay waves observed in helicon experiments. Estimates of the level of the decay parametric turbulence turn out to be sufficiently high to account for the strong absorption observed in helicon-produced plasmas