Linear and quasilinear theory of second electron cyclotron harmonic heating of tokamak plasmas

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Abstract
Heating and current drive by electron cyclotron waves with the second harmonic resonance layer lying inside the plasma is studied. The full warm‐plasma dispersion relation is solved numerically in a slab plasma model with assumed density and temperature profiles to study the scaling laws of heating, the spatial profiles of power deposition, and the rf‐driven current. The current drive, via the anisotropic resistivity, is obtained analytically for weak rf within the Lorenz model and numerically from a Fokker–Planck code. Mode conversion from an ordinary mode to the extraordinary takes place at the incident angle of 35 deg. The allowed angular spread for efficient energy penetration is enhanced by a factor of 1.5 over that of the fundamental, and therefore makes this scheme workable and heating and current drive in high‐density plasmas possible. The current drive efficiency is markedly improved when energy is damped through the electrostatic Bernstein mode.

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