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Stimulated plasma waves in the Versatile Toroidal Facility (VTF)

Conference ·
OSTI ID:51807
; ; ; ; ;  [1]
  1. Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge, MA (United States). Plasma Fusion Center
The authors will report laboratory experiments conducted with the Versatile Toroidal Facility (VTF) that is a large toroidal plasma device. These experiments are aimed at studying the generation of plasma mode waves in the VTF stimulated by microwaves, electron beams, and/or Taylor discharge. The steady-state VTF plasmas produced by the injected microwaves via the electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) is radially inhomogeneous but quite uniform along the axial direction. The plasma density can be further enhanced by the field-aligned current produced by an electron beam system. In the operation of the VTF, a small vertical magnetic field is added to the toroidal field, forming a spiral configuration of magnetic field. This spiral field can guide the electric current to flow from the bottomside to the topside of the plasma chamber. The VTF plasmas with the radial inhomogeneity can become unstable in the presence of the field-aligned electric current. In addition, the Taylor discharge process in the VTF can excite field-aligned electric field oscillations at the acoustic frequencies via the OH transformer (i.e., the inner torque cylinder). The preliminary results of the stimulated plasma waves in the VTF will be discussed.
OSTI ID:
51807
Report Number(s):
CONF-940604--; ISBN 0-7803-2006-9
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English