Oblique Incidence of an Electromagnetic Wave on a Plasma Layer

A plane electromagnetic wave is obliquely incident upon a plasma layer of finite thickness, where the equilibrium plasma is taken to be homogeneous and isotropic. The electric vector of the wave is assumed polarized in the plane of incidence. The specular boundary condition for the distribution function is employed and an exact solution of the coupled Maxwell-Vlasov equations is derived as an expansion in normal modes, yielding coupled tranverse and longitudinal waves in the plasma region. Temperature effects on the reflection coefficient are investigated.