Role of Radio Frequency and Microwaves in Magnetic Fusion Plasma Research

Abstract

The role of electromagnetic (EM) waves in magnetic fusion plasma-ranging from radio frequency (RF) to microwaves-has been extremely important, and understanding of EM wave propagation and related technology in this field has significantly advanced magnetic fusion plasma research. Auxiliary heating and current drive systems, aided by various forms of high-power RF and microwave sources, have contributed to achieving the required steady-state operation of plasmas with high temperatures (i.e., up to approximately 10 keV; 1 eV = 10000 K) that are suitable for future fusion reactors. Here, various resonance values and cut-off characteristics of wave propagation in plasmas with a nonuniform magnetic field are used to optimize the efficiency of heating and current drive systems. In diagnostic applications, passive emissions and active sources in this frequency range are used to measure plasma parameters and dynamics; in particular, measurements of electron cyclotron emissions (ECEs) provide profile information regarding electron temperature. Recent developments in state-of-the-art 2D microwave imaging systems that measure fluctuations in electron temperature and density are largely based on ECE. The scattering process, phase delays, reflection/diffraction, and the polarization of actively launched EM waves provide us with the physics of magnetohydrodynamic instabilities and transport physics. This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ⓒ

Investigation of effect of electron temperature on intensity and efficiency of terahertz generated by laser beating in inhomogeneous plasma

“…The plasma temperature is usually due to thermal energy of heavy particles. At high pressure, electron temperature »10 keV [36][37][38][39] have reported using RF and microwave heated plasmas. Through figure 3(b), we investigate the effect of electron neutral collisions on the THz field.…”