Recent Experimental Progress in Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating and Electron Cyclotron Current Drive in Magnetically Confined Fusion Plasmas

Electron Plasmas Cooled by Cyclotron-Cavity Resonance.

We observe that high-Q electromagnetic cavity resonances increase the cyclotron cooling rate of pure electron plasmas held in a Penning-Malmberg trap when the electron cyclotron frequency, controlled by tuning the magnetic field, matches the frequency of standing wave modes in the cavity. For certain modes and trapping configurations, this can increase the cooling rate by factors of 10 or more....

Electron cyclotron current drive efficiency in an axisymmetric tokamak

The neoclassical transport theory is applied to calculate electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD) efficiency in an axisymmetric tokamak in the low-collisionality regime. The tokamak ordering is used to obtain a system of equations that describe the dynamics of the plasma where the nonlinear ponderomotive (PM) force due to high-power RF waves is included. The PM force is produced around an elect...

Pfc/ja-83-13 Parametric Phenomena in Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating of Tokamak Plasmas

A theoretical study of parametric processes near the electron cyclotron resonance region in tokamak plasmas is presented. Parametric dispersion relations, including finite wave length of the driver pump, of principal and harmonic parametric excitations, are given. The problem of primary and secondary decays including their temporal and spatial growth rates is studied. In the nonlinear phase of ...

Runaway expansion in magnetically confined electron plasmas

Magnetic confinement of neutral plasmas in a tokamak is one of the most promising avenues for generating power via nuclear fusion. Plasma disruption and energy loss, however, continue to cause problems even as larger experimental plants are being built. In particular, cyclical disruption of the plasma’s core electron temperature is a persistent but poorly explained phenomenon. In this paper, I ...

Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Source