ICRF heating of deuterium-tritium plasmas in TFTR

Abstract

The first experiments to heat D-T plasmas in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF) have been performed on the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR). These experiments have two major objectives: to study the RF physics of ICRF-heated D-T plasmas and to enhance the performance of D-T discharges. Experiments have been conducted at 43 MHz with out-of-phase current strap excitation to explore n{sub T}/n{sub e} concentrations up to approximately 40%. In these experiments n{sub T}/n{sub e} was limited by D recycling from the carbon walls. The location of the T resonance was varied by changing the toroidal magnetic field, and the RF power was modulated (f{sub mod}=5-10 Hz) to elucidate competing heating mechanisms. Up to 5.8 MW of ICRF heating has been coupled into D-T plasmas. The addition of 5.5 MW of ICRF heating to a D-T supershot resulted in an increase in central ion temperature from 26 to 36 keV and an increase in central electron temperature from 8 to 10.5 keV. Up to 80% of the absorbed ICRF power was coupled directly to ions, in good agreement with computer code predictions. These results extrapolate to efficient T heating in future devices such as ITER.