The experiments were carried out to study the coupling characteristics of the I-port antenna in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF) in EAST. The dependencies of the coupling resistance on various parameters including the antenna position, the central electron density, gas injection and the antenna phasing have been studied. The results obtained show that the experimental data are consistent with theoretical simulations. We find that the antenna loading resistance decreases sharply at the L-H transition due to the change of the plasma density profiles in the scrape-off layer (SOL). The effect of the low hybrid wave (LHW) on the ICRF coupling during the H-mode is observed. The theoretical interpretation of the results is discussed, together with the efficient methods to optimize the coupling efficiency.

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Radio frequency (RF) heating in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF) is one of the primary auxiliary heating methods for EAST. The ICRF system provides 6 MW power in primary phase and will be capable of 10 MW later. Three 1.5 MW ICRF systems in a frequency range of 25 MHz to 70 MHz have already been in operation. The ICRF heating launchers are designed to have two current straps with each driven by a RF power source of 1.5 MW. In this paper a brief introduction of the ICRF heating system capability in EAST and the preliminary results in EAST are presented.