Plasma Paramagnetism in Radio-Frequency Fields

Abstract

A study by experiment, simulation, and theory has found that a plasma responds paramagnetically to the external rf magnetic field applied perpendicular to the static magnetic field with frequency $\omega <{\omega }_m$, ${\omega }_m$ being the Alfvén ion cyclotron frequency. This effect can be exploited in the rf plugging and heating of plasmas; it explains the earlier rf plugging experiment (type-3 coil) of Watari et al. at Nagoya and possibly the rf heating experiment of Dikii et al. on the Uragan stellarator.