# Microplasma generation by slow microwave in an electromagnetically induced transparency-like metasurface

## TL;DR

This study demonstrates microplasma generation in an EIT-like metasurface using microwaves, showing how resonance and slow microwave effects enhance electric fields to induce plasma at specific frequencies.

## Contribution

It introduces a novel method of microplasma generation via slow microwave effects in an EIT-like metasurface, with detailed analysis of threshold power and plasma properties.

## Key findings

- Microplasma is generated at the EIT-like transmission peak.
- Threshold microwave power is minimized at the peak frequency.
- Electron density of microplasma is approximately 10^10 cm^-3.

## Abstract

Microplasma generation using microwaves in an electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT)-like metasurface composed of two types of radiatively coupled cut-wire resonators with slightly different resonance frequencies is investigated. Microplasma is generated in either of the gaps of the cut-wire resonators as a result of strong enhancement of the local electric field associated with resonance and slow microwave effect. The threshold microwave power for plasma ignition is found to reach a minimum at the EIT-like transmission peak frequency, where the group index is maximized. A pump-probe measurement of the metasurface reveals that the transmission properties can be significantly varied by varying the properties of the generated microplasma near the EIT-like transmission peak frequency and the resonance frequency. The electron density of the microplasma is roughly estimated to be of order $1\times 10^{10}\,\mathrm{cm}^{-3}$ for a pump power of $15.8\,\mathrm{W}$ by comparing the measured transmission spectrum for the probe wave with the numerically calculated spectrum. In the calculation, we assumed that the plasma is uniformly generated in the resonator gap, that the electron temperature is $2\,\mathrm{eV}$, and that the elastic scattering cross section is $20 \times 10^{-16}\,\mathrm{cm}^2$.