Dynamics of the excitation, conversion, and damping of surface waves

The time evolution of the excitation, conversion, and damping of surface waves at a diffuse plasma--vacuum interface is studied. The waves are excited by an external electromagnetic wave. The surface waves which are excited are shown to be converted into plasma waves. This conversion aids the absorption of energy from the incident wave. Both the longitudinal and transverse components of the excited waves having frequencies different from that of the incident wave exist for only a limited time after the source is turned on. Over this time interval, a steady state is established with a linear conversion of the incident electromagnetic wave into a plasma wave of the same frequency