Heating experiment of field-reversed configuration plasma by low-frequency magnetic pulse

An effective heating method and experimental verification for a field-reversed configuration (FRC) plasma by applying the low-frequency magnetic pulse is presented. The low-frequency magnetic field is applied by an antenna that consists of two single-turn coils, and the frequency of the magnetic field is lower than the ion cyclotron frequency at the separatrix. An increase of the plasma energy and a fluctuation of the internal magnetic field are simultaneously observed. The comparison of the total temperature and the ion temperature shows that the increase of the plasma energy is mostly due to the ion heating. The fluctuation is directly observed by the internal magnetic probe arrays. The analysis of the phase velocity along the equilibrium magnetic field implies that the Alfvén wave is excited and propagates.