Alfvén ion–ion hybrid wave heating in the Phaedrus-T tokamak

Abstract

In the Phaedrus-T tokamak [R. A. Breun et al., Fusion Technol. 19, 1327 (1991)], Alfvén waves are indirectly driven by a fast wave antenna array. Small fractions of minority ions are shown to have a large effect on the Alfvén spectrum, as measured at the edge. An ion–ion hybrid Alfvén mode has been identified by measuring dispersion properties. Landau damping is predicted to be large and spatially localized. These Alfvénic waves are experimentally shown to generate correlated electron heating and changes in density near the core of the tokamak plasma. Fast wave antenna fields can mode convert at a hybrid Alfvén resonance and provide a promising route to spatially localized tokamak heating and current drive, even for low effective ionic charge Zeff≊1.3–2.