Ion cyclotron heating experiments in magnetosphere plasma device RT-1

Abstract

The ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF) heating with 3 MHz and ∼10 kW is being prepared in RT-1. The operation regime for electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) heating is surveyed as the target plasmas. ECRH with 8.2 GHz and ∼50 kW produces the plasmas with high energy electrons in the range of a few ten keV, but the ions still remain cold at a few ten eV. Ion heating is expected to access high ion beta state and to change the aspect of plasma confinement theoretically. The ICRF heating is applied to the target plasma as an auxiliary heating. The preliminary result of ICRF heating is reported.