Plasma heating effects in the presence of a parametric decay instability

Experimental results are presented which show that, above a certain threshold value, a large-amplitude electron Bernstein wave can decay into another Bernstein wave plus a low frequency (LF) ion cyclotron wave. At increased incident wave amplitudes, a whole spectrum of LF ion waves appeared, with frequencies extending up to the ion plasma frequency. Simultaneous with the excitation of this spectrum of ion waves, measurement of both ion and electron temperatures indicated increases in value up to 2.5 times their initial values.