Upper-hybrid Resonance Research Articles

Circular TE11-based waveguide polarizer for efficient coupling to electron Bernstein wave

A circular waveguide polarizer for 2.45 GHz microwaves has been designed and produced for electron Bernstein (EB) wave heating and current drive experiments on the low aspect ratio Torus experiment (LATE) device. In the experiments the microwaves are injected obliquely to the toroidal field to drive current carrying fast electrons. In the LATE case of the oblique injection of long free space wavelength waves onto a small plasma the coupling to the EB waves from the injected electromagnetic waves is improved when the injected waves have appropriate elliptical polarizations depending on the injection angle and the density gradient at the upper hybrid resonance layer (Igami et al 2006 Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 48 573). Any elliptically polarized mode can be generated from a circular TE11 mode by the combination of a half wave section and a quarter wave section of circular waveguide. The transformation of polarization arises from the difference in axial wave numbers between an orthogonal pair of modified circular TE11 modes, which is realized by the insertion of a Teflon plate in a circular waveguide made of aluminum. Such a polarized wave is launched from the open end of a circular waveguide toward the plasma. An elliptically polarized mode adjusted to a steep density gradient and injected obliquely to the toroidal field has been found to be effective to sustain a highly over-dense plasma.

Upper Hybrid Resonance of Microwaves with a Large Magnetized Plasma Sheet

A large magnetized plasma sheet with size of 60 cm × 60 cm × 2 cm was generated by a linear hollow cathode discharge under the confinement of a uniform magnetic field generated by a Helmholtz Coil. The microwave transmission characteristic of the plasma sheet was measured for different incident frequencies, in cases with the electric field polarization of the incident microwave either perpendicular or parallel to the magnetic field. In this measurement, parameters of the plasma sheet were changed by varying the discharge current and magnetic field intensity. In the experiment, upper hybrid resonance phenomena were observed when the electric field polarization of the incident wave was perpendicular to the magnetic field. These resonance phenomena cannot be found in the case of parallel polarization incidence. This result is consistent with theoretical consideration. According to the resonance condition, the electron density values at the resonance points are calculated under various experimental conditions. This kind of resonance phenomena can be used to develop a specific method to diagnose the electron density of this magnetized plasma sheet apparatus. Moreover, it is pointed out that the operating parameters of the large plasma sheet in practical applications should be selected to keep away from the upper hybrid resonance point to prevent signals from polarization distortion.

Stimulated Brillouin scatter and stimulated ion Bernstein scatter during electron gyroharmonic heating experiments

Results of secondary radiation, Stimulated Electromagnetic Emission (SEE), produced during ionospheric modification experiments using ground‐based high‐power radio waves are reported. These results obtained at the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) facility specifically considered the generation of Magnetized Stimulated Brillouin Scatter (MSBS) and Stimulated Ion Bernstein Scatter (SIBS) lines in the SEE spectrum when the transmitter frequency is near harmonics of the electron gyrofrequency. The heater antenna beam angle effect was investigated on MSBS in detail and shows a new spectral line postulated to be generated near the upper hybrid resonance region due to ion acoustic wave interaction. Frequency sweeping experiments near the electron gyroharmonics show for the first time the transition from MSBS to SIBS lines as the heater pump frequency approaches the gyroharmonic. Significantly far from the gyroharmonic, MSBS lines dominate, while close to the gyroharmonic, SIBS lines strengthen while MSBS lines weaken. New possibilities for diagnostic information are discussed in light of these new observations.

Spatial structure of the geodesic acoustic mode in the FT-2 tokamak by upper hybrid resonance Doppler backscattering

A new experimental technique is presented for the study of zonal flows in tokamak plasmas—upper hybrid resonance Doppler backscattering. The feasibility of the diagnostics is demonstrated allowing a complete characterization of the temporal and spatial behaviour of geodesic acoustic modes. The experimental results are obtained at the FT-2 tokamak.

The plasma density distribution in the inner region of Saturn's magnetosphere

Electron density measurements derived from the upper hybrid resonance frequency have been obtained from the Cassini Radio and Plasma Wave Science experiment over a 7 year period from 28 October 2004 through 7 November 2011. Additional density measurements inside the orbit of Enceladus and outside the orbit of Rhea have made it possible to expand a previously published density model to radial distances from 2.6 to 10.0 Saturnian radii (RS). The distribution of density data is compared to a simple scale height density model for a single‐species plasma within 8° of the magnetic equatorial plane. There is a broad peak in the equatorial density distribution between 4 RS and 5 RS with the plasma falling off both inward and outward from the peak region. The radial dependence of the equatorial density profile varies as R4.0 from 2.6 RS to 4 RS and as R–4.8 from 5 RS to 10 RS. The plasma distribution outside 5 RS remains consistent with earlier density models but additional density measurements inside 4 RS provide information on the plasma distribution in this inner region that will be the focus of the F‐Ring and proximal orbits near the end of the Cassini mission.

Artificial plasma cusp generated by upper hybrid instabilities in HF heating experiments at HAARP

AbstractThe High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program digisonde was operated in a fast mode to record ionospheric modifications by the HF heating wave. With the O mode heater of 3.2 MHz turned on for 2 min, significant virtual height spread was observed in the heater off ionograms, acquired beginning the moment the heater turned off. Moreover, there is a noticeable bump in the virtual height spread of the ionogram trace that appears next to the plasma frequency (~ 2.88 MHz) of the upper hybrid resonance layer of the HF heating wave. The enhanced spread and the bump disappear in the subsequent heater off ionograms recorded 1 min later. The height distribution of the ionosphere in the spread situation indicates that both electron density and temperature increases exceed 10% over a large altitude region (> 30 km) from below to above the upper hybrid resonance layer. This “mini cusp” (bump) is similar to the cusp occurring in daytime ionograms at the F1–F2 layer transition, indicating that there is a small ledge in the density profile reminiscent of F1–F2 layer transitions. Two parametric processes exciting upper hybrid waves as the sidebands by the HF heating waves are studied. Field‐aligned purely growing mode and lower hybrid wave are the respective decay modes. The excited upper hybrid and lower hybrid waves introduce the anomalous electron heating which results in the ionization enhancement and localized density ledge. The large‐scale density irregularities formed in the heat flow, together with the density irregularities formed through the parametric instability, give rise to the enhanced virtual height spread. The results of upper hybrid instability analysis are also applied to explain the descending feature in the development of the artificial ionization layers observed in electron cyclotron harmonic resonance heating experiments.

Utilizing upper hybrid resonance for high density plasma production and negative ion generation in a downstream region

Localized wave-induced resonances are created by microwaves launched directly into a multicusp (MC) plasma device in the k ⊥ B mode, where k is the wave vector and B is the static magnetic field. The resonance zone is identified as upper hybrid resonance (UHR), and lies r = ∼22 mm away from the MC boundary. Measurement of radial wave electric field intensity confirms the right hand cutoff of the wave (r = 22.5–32.1 mm) located near the UHR zone. A sharp rise in the corresponding electron temperature in the resonance region by ∼13 eV from its value away from resonance at r = 0, is favorable for the generation of vibrationally excited molecules of hydrogen. A transverse magnetic filter allows cold electrons (∼1–2 eV) to pass into the downstream region where they generate negative ions by dissociative attachment. Measurements of electron energy distribution function (EEDF) support the viewpoint. H− current density of ∼0.26 mA/cm2 is obtained at a wave power density of ∼3 W/cm2 at 2.0 mTorr pressure, which agrees reasonably well with results obtained from a steady state model using particle balance equations.

Applications of broadband radio signals for diagnostics of electron density profile dynamics and plasma motion in the HF‐pumped ionosphere

A technique for studying inhomogeneous structure and motions in the ionosphere by measurements of the amplitude and phase characteristics of wideband radio pulses is developed and demonstrated in investigations of the HF‐pumped ionospheric volume above the Sura facility. For the study of the vertical structure (electron density profile and vertical velocities) with high altitude and temporal resolution, a Tikhonov regularization algorithm for the solution of the inverse problem using phase sounding data is implemented. Horizontal velocity data are obtained by means of a correlation analysis of the reflected signals received by the diversity technique. The application of the technique described allows measurement of the HF pump‐induced modifications of the electron density profile, particularly the plasma expulsion from the plasma resonance and upper hybrid resonance regions, with high accuracy.

Study and optimization of boronization in Alcator C-Mod using the Surface Science Station (S3)

A Surface Science Station (S3) on the Alcator C-Mod tokamak is used to study and optimize the location and rate of boron film deposition in situ during electron cyclotron (EC) discharge plasmas using 2.45GHz radio-frequency (RF) heating and a mixture of helium and diborane (B2D6) gasses. The radial profile of boron deposition is measured with a pair of quartz microbalances (QMB) on S3, the faces of which can be rotated 360° including orientations parallel and perpendicular to the toroidal magnetic field BT ∼0.1T. The plasma electron density is measured with a Langmuir probe, also on S3 in the vicinity of the QMBs, and typical values are ∼1×1016m−3. A maximum boron deposition rate of 0.82μg/cm2/min is obtained, which corresponds to 3.5nm/min if the film density is that of solid boron. These deposition rates are sufficient for boron film applications between tokamak discharges. However the deposition does not peak at the EC resonance as previously assumed. Rather, deposition peaks near the upper hybrid (UH) resonance, ∼5cm outboard of the EC resonance. This has implications for RF absorption, with the RF waves being no longer damped on the electrons at the EC resonance. The previously inferred radial locations of critical erosion zones in Alcator C-Mod also need to be re-evaluated. The boron deposition profile versus major radius follows the ion flux/density profile, implying that the boron deposition is primarily ionic. The application of a vertical magnetic field (BV ∼0.01T) was found to narrow the plasma density and boron deposition profiles near the UH resonance, thus better localizing the deposition. A Monte Carlo simulation is developed to model the boron deposition on the different QMB/tokamak surfaces. The model requires a relatively high boron ion gyroradius of ∼5mm, indicating a B+1 ion temperature of ∼2eV, to match the deposition on QMB surfaces with different orientation to BT. Additionally, the boron ion trajectories become de-magnetized at high neutral gas throughput (∼0.5Pam3s−1) and pressure (∼2Pa) when the largest absolute deposition rates are measured, resulting in deposition patterns, which are independent of surface orientation to BT in optimized conditions.

Field‐aligned distribution of the plasmaspheric electron density: An empirical model derived from the IMAGE RPI measurements

We present a newly developed empirical model of the plasma density in the plasmasphere. It is based on more than 700 density profiles along field lines derived from active sounding measurements made by the radio plasma imager on IMAGE between June 2000 and July 2005. The measurements cover all magnetic local times and vary from L = 1.6 to L = 4 spatially, with every case manually confirmed to be within the plasmasphere by studying the corresponding dynamic spectrogram. The resulting model depends not only on L‐shell but also on magnetic latitude and can be applied to specify the electron densities in the plasmasphere between 2000 km altitude and the plasmapause (the plasmapause location itself is not included in this model). It consists of two parts: the equatorial density, which falls off exponentially as a function of L‐shell; and the field‐aligned dependence on magnetic latitude and L‐shell (in the form of invariant magnetic latitude). The fluctuations of density appear to be greater than what could be explained by a possible dependence on magnetic local time or season, and the dependence on geomagnetic activity is weak and cannot be discerned. The solar cycle effect is not included because the database covers only a fraction of a solar cycle. The performance of the model is evaluated by comparison to four previously developed plasmaspheric models and is further tested against the in situ passive IMAGE RPI measurements of the upper hybrid resonance frequency. While the equatorial densities of different models are mostly within the statistical uncertainties (especially at distances greater than L = 3), the clear latitudinal dependence of the RPI model presents an improvement over previous models. The model shows that the field‐aligned density distribution can be treated neither as constant nor as a simple diffusive equilibrium distribution profile. This electron density model combined with an assumed model of the ion composition can be used to estimate the time for an Alfven wave to propagate from one hemisphere to the other, to determine the plasma frequencies along a field line, and to calculate the raypaths for high frequency waves propagating in the plasmasphere.

First observations of 4fce auroral roar emissions

This is a report on the first observations of auroral roar emissions near 4 times the ionospheric electron cyclotron frequency (fce) with a passive receiver installed in Svalbard, Norway. 4fce roar emissions were detected from 5.27 to 5.70 MHz during moderate geomagnetic disturbances in 22 days between May and September 2011 only from noon to evening, while no event occurred during the winter season. An analysis of a typical event shows that the electron density profile measured from EISCAT Svalbard dynasonde satisfies the condition that the upper frequency of the 4fce roar is nearly equal to both upper hybrid resonance frequency (fUH) and 4fce at 238‐km altitude. These observations support the idea expanded from the most commonly‐accepted generation mechanism of 2fce and 3fce roar: the origin of 4fce roar is upper hybrid waves favorably generated under the condition of fUH ∼ 4fce in the auroral F‐region ionosphere.

Influence of the shape of the cross section of a plasma-dielectric interface on the dispersion properties of high-frequency azimuthal surface modes

Theoretical study of the propagation of a packet of surface electromagnetic surface waves with a zero axial wavenumber in a circular-cross-section cylindrical metal waveguide within the frequency range that is higher than upper hybrid resonance is carried out. The waveguide is partially filled by plasma and immersed into axial magnetic field. The cross section of the plasma column is assumed to differ from circular shape. The effect of this shape on the dispersion properties of azimuthal surface modes is investigated by the method of successive approximations. The fields of the waves and their eigenfrequencies are determined up to terms of the second order in the deviation of the plasma cross section shape from the ring one. The correction to the eigenfrequency of azimuthal surface modes caused by this feature of the plasma column section is proved to increase with decreasing the external magnetic field and increasing the value of the dielectric constant of the dielectric, that separates the plasma from the metal wall of the waveguide. The spectral composition of the wave packet, in the form of which these modes propagate, is studied. The amplitudes of the satellite harmonics of these modes are found to increase with increasing the plasma density and decreasing the external magnetic field.

Optimization of negative ion current in a compact microwave driven upper hybrid resonance multicusp plasma source

Performance of a microwave driven upper hybrid resonance multicusp plasma source as a volume negative ion source is reported. Microwaves are directly launched into the plasma chamber predominantly in the TE(11) mode. The source is operated at different discharge conditions to obtain the optimized negative H(-) ion current which is ∼33 μA (0.26 mA∕cm(2)). Particle balance equations are solved to estimate the negative ion density, which is compared with the experimental results. Future prospects of the source are discussed.

Generation of cold electrons in the downstream region of a microwave plasma source with near boundary resonances for production of negative ions

A microwave driven multicusp plasma based volume negative ion source equipped with a magnetic filter is developed. Instead of employing any electrodes or current carrying filaments, microwaves of frequency 2.45 GHz is used to generate plasma by resonance heating mechanisms namely the electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) and upper hybrid resonances (UHR), occurring near the boundary plasma layers. The principal process of negative ion production in hydrogen is dissociative attachment of low energy (0.5–1.0 eV) electrons to vibrationally excited neutral molecules generated from high energy (15–20 eV) electron impact. The source therefore necessitates two distinct spatial regions (a) production and (b) attachment chambers; which would contain electrons with optimum cross section for the aforementioned processes. A biased grid after the magnetic filter further helps to lower down the electron temperature to ≤1 eV which is favorable for the dissociative attachment process.

Decays of electron Bernstein waves near plasma edge

Nonlinear wave-wave couplings near the upper hybrid resonance are studied via particle-in-cell simulations. It is found that the decay of an electron Bernstein wave (EBW) depends on the ratio of the incident frequency and electron cyclotron frequency. For ratios less than two, parametric decay into a lower hybrid wave (or an ion Bernstein wave) and EBWs at a lower frequency is observed. For ratios larger than two, the daughter waves could be an electron cyclotron quasi-mode and another EBW or an ion wave and EBW. For sufficiently high incident power, the former process may dominate. Because of the electron cyclotron quasi-mode, electrons can be strongly heated by nonlinear Landau damping. As a result, the bulk of the incident power can be absorbed near plasma edge at high power. The increase in number of decay channels with frequency implies that the allowable power into the plasma must decrease with frequency.

Oxygen torus in the deep inner magnetosphere and its contribution to recurrent process of O+-rich ring current formation

[1] Using the magnetic field and plasma wave data obtained by the Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite (CRRES), we search for enhancements of O+ ion density in the deep inner magnetosphere known as “the oxygen torus”. We examine 4 events on the dayside in which toroidal standing Alfven waves appear clearly. From the frequency of the toroidal waves, the magnetospheric local mass density (ρL) is estimated by solving the MHD wave equation for realistic models of the magnetic field and the field line mass distribution. We also estimate the local electron number density (neL) from the plasma wave spectrograms by identifying narrow-band emission at the upper-hybrid resonance frequency. Assuming the quasi-neutral condition of plasma, we infer the local average ion mass (ML) by ρL/neL. It is found that ML is approximately 3 amu in the plasma trough, while it shows an enhancement of >7 amu at L ∼ 4.5–6.5 that is close to the plasmapause at L ∼ 3.5–6.0. This indicates an existence of the oxygen torus in the vicinity of the plasmapause. The oxygen torus is found preferentially during the storm recovery phase. We interpret that these features of the oxygen torus (i.e., close relations with the plasmapause and the storm recovery phase) reflect its generation mechanism; that is, the ionospheric temperature is enhanced by heat conduction from high altitudes in the limited L range where the plasmasphere, because of its inflation during the recovery phase, encounters the ring current, and then the ionosphere has a larger scale height and supplies O+ ions to the inner magnetosphere, resulting in the oxygen torus. We also discuss the contribution of the oxygen torus to the formation of the O+-rich ring current. It is proposed that the O+-rich ring current is formed in a recurrent process, in which the oxygen torus, the plasmasphere, and the ring current interact with each other.

Measurement of the Electron Bernstein Wave Emission with One of the Power Transmission Lines for ECH in LHD

Possibility of the measurement of radiated waves derived from the thermally emitted electron Bernstein wave (EBW) is numerically investigated based on the assumption of the super dense core (SDC) plasma generated in LHD. EBW that is thermally emitted in the electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) layer may couple with the electromagnetic wave and be emitted to the vacuum via the EBW-extraordinary-ordinary (B-X-O) mode conversion process. We consider the use of one of the transmission lines for electron cyclotron heating (ECH) in LHD as a receiving system of the emission. It is derived that the waves in the fundamental cyclotron frequency range are emitted as the EBW near their upper hybrid resonance (UHR) layer outside the last close flux surface (LCFS). On the other hand, waves in the second harmonics cyclotron frequency range are emitted in the core region. It means that successful measurement of waves of the second harmonic frequency range emitted from extremely high dense core plasma with setting an aim angle for receiving indicates a possibility of the second harmonic ECH by EBW in the core region with setting the same aim angle and the same polarization for launching.

Modeling of Electron Cyclotron Heating in Large Tokamaks and ITER with the 3-D Full-Wave Code STELEC

We present modeling results of basic electron cyclotron heating (ECH) scenarios in several tokamaks and ITER performed with the most recent version of the three-dimensional (3-D) full-wave STELEC code (stellarator ECH, including tokamaks as a special case). This code includes all basic wave physics such as interference, diffraction, wave tunneling, mode conversion to electron Bernstein waves at the upper hybrid resonance (UHR), and appropriate boundary conditions. The code solves the wave equations in real 3-D magnetic geometry and thanks to the use of massive parallel teraflop computers, it is the first to provide full-wave solutions of the problem in toroidal plasmas. Several important new results are thus obtained that cannot be predicted with codes based on ray-tracing techniques, such as the influence of diffraction effects and the importance of the UHR for both X- and O-mode antenna excitation at fundamental harmonic. This last result also shows that the so-called “O and X” modes are coupled solutions. The coupling of these modes, partly supported by experiments in the DIII-D tokamak showing similar heating efficiencies for both radiated modes, leads to different power deposition profiles and spatial distribution, compared to results from ray-tracing codes. Coupling between the O-mode and the X-mode (launched at the low-field side) reveals the importance of electron Bernstein waves in ECH calculations for high-density ITER plasmas. These results not only could influence the predictions for neoclassical tearing mode suppression for ITER using electron cyclotron current drive but could also lead to important simplifications in ECH hardware (converters, polarization, etc.) and to a reduced cost of the ECH system on ITER. The code also allowed investigation of the urgent issue of the O-X-B ECH scenario for overdense tokamak/stellarator plasmas.

Excitation of azimuthal surface modes by relativistic flows of electrons in the high-frequency range

Excitation of extraordinarily polarized azimuthal surface eigenwaves is shown to be possible in the frequency range above the upper hybrid resonance in waveguides with metal walls which are partially filled by cold magnetoactive plasma. Interaction of these waves with flows of electrons which rotate around the plasma column in the narrow gap separating the plasma from the wall of the waveguide is studied. Conditions of resonant interaction of the beam with the mentioned high-frequency azimuthal surface waves are shown by numerical methods to be reachable ones in the case of enough strong external magnetic fields without passing to the field of ultra-relativistic velocities of the beam.

Penetration and screening of perpendicularly launched electromagnetic waves through bounded supercritical plasma confined in multicusp magnetic field

The question of electromagnetic wave penetration and screening by a bounded supercritical (ωp>ω with ωp and ω being the electron-plasma and wave frequencies, respectively) plasma confined in a minimum B multicusp field, for waves launched in the k⊥Bo mode, is addressed through experiments and numerical simulations. The scale length of radial plasma nonuniformity (|ne/(∂ne/∂r)|) and magnetostatic field (Bo) inhomogeneity (|Bo/(∂Bo/∂r)|) are much smaller than the free space (λo) and guided wavelengths (λg). Contrary to predictions of plane wave dispersion theory and the Clemow–Mullaly–Allis (CMA) diagram, for a bounded plasma a finite propagation occurs through the central plasma regions where αp2=ωp2/ω2≥1 and βc2=ωce2/ω2⪡1(∼10−4), with ωce being the electron cyclotron frequency. Wave screening, as predicted by the plane wave model, does not remain valid due to phase mixing and superposition of reflected waves from the conducting boundary, leading to the formation of electromagnetic standing wave modes. The waves are found to satisfy a modified upper hybrid resonance (UHR) relation in the minimum B field and are damped at the local electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) location.