PBX-M ion Bernstein wave heating overview

A high power ion Bernstein wave heating system has been introduced on PBX-M for heating and for controlling the plasma pressure profile in an effort to achieve the stable high beta ''second stability'' regime. The pressure profile can be controlled through local bulk ion heating as well as density profile control. In bean-shaped plasmas with plasma currents range from 180 kA to 250 kA, good ion heating up to the highest applied rf power, (∼700 kW,) has been observed. The observed broadening of the ion temperature profile is consistent with localized off-axis bulk ion heating as predicted by IBW ray tracing calculations. Application of IBW also resulted in a greatly modified density profile. The ability for IBW to change the density profile appears to be particularly attractive for controlling the bootstrap current profile for advanced tokamaks. Many important IBWH-related edge physics results were also obtained, including ponderomotive edge plasma modification and parametric instability onset conditions. The experimental plan for the next IBW run includes investigation of synergy with LHCD, attainment of high bootstrap current fraction discharges utilizing the IBW density profile control, and exploration of high beta plasma regimes