Excitation of wakefield and electron acceleration by short microwave pulse

Non-linear large amplitude ion wave excitation by short microwave pulse at the resonance absorption region has been observed. The maximum amplitude of the wave is δ n / n ≈ 40% in peak-to-peak, when a short microwave pulse of the order of or less than a period of ion oscillation (τ i = 2π/ω pi ) is used. The excited wave propagates to lower density regions and its velocity is a function of its amplitude, v ∝ (δ n / n 0 ) 2.2–2.7 . At the same time, a strong electron wave is excited after shut-off of the incident microwave pulse and high energy electrons are emitted and accelerated by the excited electron wave wakefield.