Significant levels of parametric decay activity and correlated edge ion heating were observed during injection of high power ion Bernstein waves (IBWs) in DIII-D. Both minority hydrogen ions and majority deuterium ions showed the formation of a high energy perpendicular tail; no parallel heating was observed. The edge ion heating and the parametric decay activity were both strongest when an ion cyclotron harmonic was present at the plasma edge. Ion tail formation had a power threshold of several hundred kilowatts, above which the tail size increased with antenna power; a comparable power threshold for parametric decay instability (PDI) was observed. Both the PDI and the associated edge deuterium heating were found to be sensitive to the hydrogen-to-deuterium ratio
Analysis of parametric instability of unstable electrostatic ion cyclotron waves in an ion beam-plasma system
Scrape-off layer ion acceleration during fast wave injection in the DIII-D tokamak