  The existence of kinetic ballooning mode (KBM) high order (non-ground)
eigenstates for tokamak plasmas with steep gradient is demonstrated via
gyrokinetic electromagnetic eigenvalue solutions, which reveals that eigenmode
parity transition is an intrinsic property of electromagnetic plasmas. The
eigenstates with quantum number $l=0$ for ground state and $l=1,2,3\ldots$ for
non-ground states are found to coexist and the most unstable one can be the
high order states ($l\neq0$). The conventional KBM is the $l=0$ state. It is
shown that the $l=1$ KBM has the same mode structure parity as the
micro-tearing mode (MTM). In contrast to the MTM, the $l=1$ KBM can be driven
by pressure gradient even without collisions and electron temperature gradient.
The relevance between various eigenstates of KBM under steep gradient and edge
plasma physics is discussed.
