A self-consistent study of the electron cyclotron maser instability as a source of coherent radiation

The electron cyclotron maser instability (ECMI) is a plasma process capable of generating intense and coherent electromagnetic emissions. Recent studies have examined different initial momentum distributions as drivers for the instability. Resorting to the particle-in-cell code OSIRIS, we investigate the ECMI closer to realistic conditions and we address effects that had so far been neglected, i.e. finite spatial width, different magnetic field geometries, and multidimensional effects. These simulations explore parameters that can be realised in proposed laboratory experiments.. Our theoretical results, alongside proposed experimental setups, are relevant to understanding the plasma processes that underpin the coherent emission in solar and more exotic astrophysical plasmas.