Electron Bernstein waves in spherical tokamak plasmas with "magnetic wells"

Abstract

In addition to traditional regimes with monotonously increasing magnetic field, regimes with "magnetic wells" also occur in spherical tokamaks (STs). The magnetic field profile inversion modifies significantly the whole picture of the wave propagation and damping. Since the magnetic wells may become quite common with further improvement of ST performance, analysis of such configurations is of interest for assessment of EBW plasma heating an CD perspectives. In this paper the basic features of the EBWs propagation and damping for the second cyclotron harmonic in a slab model are considered.