A method of plasma production by ion cyclotron wave heating has been developed in RFC-XX. Nagoya Type-III antennas were used for wave excitation, and gas was supplied through a gas box. The effect of the rotating field excitation on plasma production and heating was investigated. In the m = − 1 rotational mode (rotation in the direction of ion cyclotron motion), the plasma density profile is flat within the gas box bore with a line integrated density nℓ = 3 × 1013cm−2, and the ion temperature is Ti ≈ 150 eV. For the m = +1 mode, a high density plasma was obtained with a different profile having a peak at the centre. In this mode, the line integrated density is nℓ = 3 × 1014cm−2, with the peak density n(0) = 7 × 1013cm−3.