Nonlinear coupling of the slow wave structure with the lower-hybrid waves near the plasma surface

Nonlinear coupling between the slow mode launched by a waveguide array and a plasma slab near the plasma surface is investigated as the problem of the one-dimensional steady-state wave propagation in an inhomogeneous plasma. Numerical analysis based on the nonlinear equation for an electric field with two different density profiles is extensively carried out and is compared with results analytically obtained from the model with a shifted linear density profile which globally accounts for the effect of the ponderomotive force.