Wave heating at the third harmonic of the ion-cyclotron frequency

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Abstract
For heating of fusion reactors, heating at the third harmonic of deuterium is shown to be an attractive possibility since absorption is still strong and the plasma core is accessible. The higher frequency also makes the application of waveguide launchers more attractive because of the smaller size. The calculation model is a deuterium–tritium plasma with a small α component. The dispersion relation leads to a sixth‐order mode conversion equation solved by the Green function formalism which converts it to an integral equation. Numerical studies for the effects of absorption find the analytic transmission coefficient to be exact, and empirical formulas are given for the reflection and conversion coefficients and the power balance between the deuterium and helium. Conservation of energy is also discussed in some detail.