Effects of radio frequency waves on plasmas

• Published in: Radiation effects and defects in solids Vol. 168; no. 10; pp. 866 - 872
• Main Authors: Martinell, J.J., Sen, S., Vahala, G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Taylor & Francis 01.10.2013; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Barriers; Confinement; Devices; Fusion; instabilities; Instability; plasma; Plasma physics; Plasmas; Ponderomotive forces; Radio frequency plasma; Stabilization; Temperature effects; Transport
• ISSN: 1042-0150; 1029-4953
• DOI: 10.1080/10420150.2013.831859

A novel technique is proposed for creating transport barriers by the rf waves. This is that the transport barriers can be created by the rf induced ponderomotive force itself and no rf induced flow shear generation is necessary. It is demonstrated that the ponderomotive force of the rf waves can stabilize the ion temperature gradient mode, considered nowadays as the dominant source of anomalous energy losses in the low confinement (L) mode. The underlying physics of this stabilization mechanism is identified and is found to be rather general in the sense that all potential drift-like instabilities are expected to be affected in a similar way. It is also shown that this stabilization can be achieved for rather modest values of the rf power, and, hence should be easily obtained in actual fusion devices. Applications to other areas are also discussed.