Effects of Ion Cyclotron Harmonic Damping on Current Drive in the Lower Hybrid Frequency Range

摘要

We investigate the ion cyclotron harmonic damping effects on slow and fast waves in the lower hybrid frequency range for tokamak reactor parameters. Inclusion of the higher order terms in the hot plasma dielectric tensor introduces ion cyclotron harmonic damping; these terms also contribute to the real part of the dispersion relation and affect the wave trajectories. However, wave absorption by 15 keV deuterium and tritium ions can be avoided by choosing the slow wave frequency above the lower hybrid frequency and the fast wave frequency below the lower hybrid frequency. But preliminary estimates show that energetic alpha particles tend to absorb both the slow and the fast waves. This absorption may become a serious obstacle for fusion-reactor current drive in the lower hybrid frequency range. (ERA citation 09:006993)