Generation of plasma rotation by ion cyclotron resonance heating in tokamaks

Abstract

A physical mechanism for generation of a plasma rotation and radial electric field by ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH) is presented in a tokamak geometry. By breaking the omnigenity of resonant ion orbits, ICRH can induce a nonambipolar minor-radial transport of resonant ions. This yields a radial charge separation, a modification to radial electric field E-r, and the generation of plasma rotation. It is estimated that the ICRH fast-wave power available in the present-day tokamak experiments can be large enough to give a significant modification to plasma rotation. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S1070-664X(99)95105-4].