Abstract
Experiments on formation of spherical tokamak (ST) plasmas by electron cyclotron heating (ECH) alone without a central OH solenoid have been carried out on LATE (Low Aspect ratio Torus Experiments). By injecting a 2.45 GHz microwave pulse of 6.3 kW for 4 seconds, a plasma current is initiated and ramped up to Ip ≃ 3 kA, and finally maintained for 1 second by adjusting the external vertical field. Magnetic measurements show that closed flux surfaces are formed and the last closed flux surface has an aspect ratio of A ∼ 1.3 and an elongation of κ ∼ 1.3. The electron density measured by an interferometer is more than 1.5 × 1011 cm-3 which exceeds twice of the plasma cut-off density, suggesting that electron cyclotron heating by mode-converted electron Bernstein waves may take place.
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