Observation of toroidal plasma rotation driven by the electric field induced by loss of ions

Abstract

Toroidal plasma rotation driven not by the momentum input but by the electric field induced by loss of ions has been observed for plasmas heated by perpendicular neutral beam injection. The rotation is found to increase in the direction opposite to the plasma current when the plasma ions are heated by ion cyclotron resonance frequency waves. The rotation driven by the electric field is quantitatively consistent with that inferred from the ambipolarity of particle fluxes.