LAUSR

Abstract The terahertz is seen as an efficient solution to ionization blackout due to its stronger penetration ability than that of microwave. Therefore, the propagation and scattering characteristics of terahertz waves in a homogeneous, magnetized, and collisional cold plasma are studied using the Runge-Kutta Exponential Time Differencing-Finite Difference Time Domain (RKETD-FDTD) method in this paper. The numerical verifications of the strong penetration ability of THz wave are confirmed by computing the reflection, transmission and attenuation coefficient of right-handed / left-handed circularly polarized (RCP / LCP) wave. Moreover, some scattering problems are studied by calculating the monostatic and bistatic radar cross section (RCS). It turns out that the RCS of THz wave are larger than microwave. The plasma density, the thickness of plasma, the collisional frequency and the cyclotron frequency which have influences on the characteristics of propagation and scattering are discussed. Differences caused by interaction between electric field and magnetic field are revealed. The simulation results indicate that THz wave is an effective and alternative solution to solve ionization blackout under the magnetized plasma situation.