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Updated: May 23, 2026

Non-equilibrium Microwave Plasma for Efficient High Temperature Chemistry
Published on: August 1, 2017
Spin contribution to the ponderomotive force in a plasma
G Brodin1, A P Misra, M Marklund
1Department of Physics, Umeå University, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden.
Abstract:
The concept of a ponderomotive force due to the intrinsic spin of electrons is developed. An expression containing both the classical as well as the spin-induced ponderomotive force is derived. The results are used to demonstrate that an electromagnetic pulse can induce a spin-polarized plasma. Furthermore, it is shown that, for certain parameters, the nonlinear backreaction on the electromagnetic pulse from the spin magnetization current can be larger than that from the classical free current. Suitable parameter values for a direct test of this effect are presented.
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