Plasma biasing by non-resonant ponderomotive forces of radio-frequency waves

Abstract

A numerical code that computes stationary radial electric fields E0r induced by ponderomotive forces of radio-frequency waves is developed. The computed value of E0r is typically several hundred volts per centimetre when the wave frequency is 1 % lower or higher than the ion-cyclotron frequency. This value of E0r suggests that the ponderomotively induced electric field would be an effective bias in tokamaks. Numerical data are presented to illustrate the properties of this bias field.