Superthermal electrons during electron cyclotron heating

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Abstract
The effect of a small fraction of superthermal electrons on the absorption of the extraordinary mode near the cyclotron resonance and on the emission of radiation near the second harmonic is investigated. It is shown that the use of the extraordinary mode for electron cyclotron plasma heating may result in the acceleration of a small fraction of the electron population. It is also shown that the emission of radiation at the second harmonic from a tenuous plasma with reflecting boundaries is critically dependent on the presence of the superthermal electrons.