DIFFERENCE FREQUENCY HARMONIC ION HEATING

Abstract
The heating of a magnetized hot diffuse plasma using the difference frequency signal generated from two high-frequency (35 GHz) transverse waves is examined. The plasma is described by the cold plasma model and a series expansion of harmonics is used to obtain a solution to the equations. It is shown that the energy absorbed by the ions can be made inversely proportional to the collision frequency and the fourth power of the driven frequency and proportional to the fourth power of the driven electric field intensity. An investigation of the sensitivity of the heating process to fluctuations in frequency, density, and d-c. magnetic field is carried out.