Direct‐ and cross‐polarized scatter from a turbulent laboratory plasma

This paper presents backscatter data from a turbulent-plasma scattering experiment that is principally concerned with depolarization of the incident signal. Results of calculations using models for the direct- and cross-polarized cross sections are presented. A model based on reflection from an ‘overdense core’ accounts well for the observed results when the plasma is refractively overdense. Measurements show that a circularly polarized incident signal depolarizes more than a linearly polarized incident signal. The depolarization depends on the angle of incidence and electron density.