Second harmonic ion cylotron resonance heating by the fast magnetosonic wave on the PLT tokamak

Thesis/Dissertation · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1984

OSTI ID:5989347

Thompson, Jr, H R

Second harmonic ion cyclotron resonance heating by the fast magnetosonic wave, and the propagation of the fast wave from the fundamental of the ion cyclotron frequency to its second harmonic was investigated in a hydrogen plasma on the PLT tokamak. The theory of fast magnetosonic wave propagation was extended to include the effects of density gradients, plasma current, and impurity ion species. The damping of the fast wave at the second harmonic is calculated, where the theory has been extended to include the full radial dependence of the fast wave fields. Power deposition profiles and eigenmode Q's are calculated using this theory. The effects of the interaction between the ion Bernstein wave and the fast magnetosonic wave are calculated, and enhanced fast wave damping is predicted. The antenna loading is calculated including the effects of overlap of the fast wave eigenmodes. During the second harmonic heating experiments, the antenna loading was characterized as a function of the plasma parameters, and efficient coupling of the RF power to the plasma at high density was observed. At very low densities, fast wave eigenmodes were identified on PLT, and their Q's are measured. Eigenmodes with different toroidal directions of propagation were observed to exhibit large splitting in density due to the plasma current. Efficient bulk heating, with centrally peaked profiles, is observed at the second harmonic, and a tail, which decreases monotonically with energy, is observed on the ion distribution.

• Research Organization: Princeton Univ., NJ (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5989347
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
700101* -- Fusion Energy-- Plasma Research-- Confinement
Heating
& Production
700108 -- Fusion Energy-- Plasma Research-- Wave Phenomena
BERNSTEIN MODE
DAMPING
ELEMENTS
HEATING
HIGH-FREQUENCY HEATING
HYDROGEN
HYDROMAGNETIC WAVES
ICR HEATING
IMPURITIES
MAGNETOACOUSTIC WAVES
NONMETALS
OSCILLATION MODES
PLASMA DENSITY
PLASMA HEATING
PLASMA WAVES
PLT DEVICES
THERMONUCLEAR REACTORS
TOKAMAK TYPE REACTORS
WAVE PROPAGATION