Initial results on plasma heating experiments in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies on EAST

Plasma heating using fast waves was successfully performed on the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) in the H minority regime in deuterium plasmas at 27 MHz and Bo = 2.0 T. With 1.0 MW of ion cyclotron range of frequency (ICRF) power injected at a line-averaged electron density of 4.0 × 1019 m−3, the electron temperature increased from 1.0 keV to above 2.0 keV and the loop voltage dropped. An increase in the stored energy by 30 kJ was obtained. The first H-mode plasma of 6.4 s was achieved with a combination of lower hybrid wave and ICRF heating. Density pump-out was observed during L-mode discharges at a high electron density of 4.0 × 1019 m−3. In these discharges, re-attachment of the plasma was observed when ICRF power was applied.