2D simulation of the electromagnetic wave across the non-uniform reentry plasma sheath with COMSOL

The simulation of the electromagnetic wave propagation plays an important role in solving the communication blackout issue. Finite element analysis software package COMSOL is employed by us to model the electromagnetic wave propagation in the presence of the non-uniform reentry plasma sheath in this paper. The propagation characteristics of the electromagnetic wave are analyzed by the observation of the field distributions. The electromagnetic wave with s polarization begins to attenuate as an exponential function at the cut-off position. The mode conversion takes place for the p polarization wave when the real part of the plasma permittivity is close to 0. The wave reflection, transmission, and absorption coefficients as a function of the frequency are calculated and analyzed. The absolute agreements between the results calculated by COMSOL model and by the layered model are achieved. The difference of the coefficients between s and p polarization waves can be explained by the presence or absence of the mode conversion. Conclusions in this paper can be the foundation to employ the COMSOL to study the interactions between the electromagnetic wave and the plasma.