Ion cyclotron resonance in dense plasmas

Abstract

The possibility of heating a plasma by means of the ion cyclotron resonance is investigated. It is shown that in plasmas with charged-particle densities of 107–1011 cm−3, the use of short (compared with the length of the pinch) heating sections mades it possible to weaken the effect of transverse ionic polarization fields by virtue of the motion of electrons along the lines of force of the external magnetic field. In a low-ionization plasma the efficiency of transfer of energy from the rf field to the ions is reduced as the ion velocity increases; this reduction is due to cooling of the ions by neutral atoms.