The steady-state operation of high-performance plasmas in the Large Helical Device (LHD) has progressed since the 2010 IAEA Conference in Korea by means of a newly installed ion cyclotron heating (ICH) antenna (HAS antenna) and an improved electron cyclotron heating (ECH) system. The HAS antenna can control the launched parallel wave number and heat the core plasma efficiently in the case of dipole mode operation. Understanding of the physics and technology of wave heating, particle and heat flow balances, and plasma–wall interactions in LHD has also improved. The heating power of steady-state ICH and ECH exceeded 1 MW and 500 kW, respectively, and a higher density helium plasma with minority hydrogen ions was maintained using the HAS antenna and new 77 GHz gyrotrons. As a result, plasma performance improved, e.g. electron temperature of more than 2 keV at a density of more than 2 × 1019 m−3 became possible for more than 1 min. Heat flow balance and particle flux balance of steady-state operation were evaluated. Particle balance analysis indicated that externally fed helium and hydrogen particles were mainly absorbed by the chamber wall and divertor plates, even after the 54 min operation.
Electron cyclotron heating of currentless plasmas in stellarators