Electron Cyclotron Emission from the Princeton Large Tokamak

Abstract

Experimental measurements of electron cyclotron emission from the Princeton Large Tokamak plasma reveal that blackbody emission occurs at the fundamental frequency. Such emission, not possible by direct thermal excitation of electromagnetic waves, is herein attributed to thermal excitation of electrostatic (Bernstein) waves which then mode convert into electromagnetic waves. The local feature of the electrostatic wave generation permits spatially and temporally resolved measurements of electron temperature as for the second-harmonic emission.