Possible effects of RF field near ICRF antenna on density control during long pulse discharge in LHD

Abstract In the large helical device (LHD), the plasma duration time was extended up to 150 s by ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF) heating. Time-integrated total input power reached 71 MJ. However, this discharge terminated due to radiation collapse accompanied by an increase of electron density. The temperature of the divertor plates and the intensity of H α were locally increased in the same toroidal section, near the ICRF antenna. One of the possible causes of the increase of radiation power is an outgassing from the divertor plates that were heated by particles accelerated in the cyclotron resonance layer near the antenna. Another possible cause is the outgassing from the ICRF antenna itself due to a temperature increase of the ICRF antenna owing to high-energy particles, or the formation of an RF (radio frequency) sheath.