Generation of Polarized Shear Alfven Waves by a Rotating Magnetic Field Source

We report on the generation and characterization of polarized kinetic shear Alfven waves radiated from a rotating magnetic field created via a novel phased orthogonal loop antenna. Both right and left hand polarization's are generated at a wide range of frequencies from 0.01 $< \quad \omega $/$\Omega _{ci} \quad <$ 1.0. Propagation parallel to the background magnetic field at the Alfven velocity is observed along with a negligible parallel wave magnetic field component implying a shear mode. The magnitude of the waves magnetic field is on the order of 0.4{\%} of the background field. Small amplitude second harmonic generation is seen along with indirect evidence of electron heating and/or fast electrons during the pulse implying non-linear response. Three-dimensional data of the wave fields and currents will be presented.