ECRH and ICRH in the TMX-U tandem mirror

In the Tandem Mirror Experiment Upgrade (TMX-U), the formation of a thermal barrier and the potential plugging of ion end loss were achieved at central-cell densities up to 2 x 10/sup 12/ cm/sup -3/. The presence of a thermal barrier was confirmed by direct measurement, and ion axial-confinement times in the range 50 to 100 ms were measured. The ECRH in the end cells (a) initiates plasma startup, (b) generates hot, mirror-confined electrons to form thermal barriers, and (c) creates the plugging potential for central-cell ions. The ECRH system consists of four 200 kW, 28 GHz gyrotrons each feeding power to a separate heating location (two in each end plug). Fundamental heating is used at the potential plug, and second harmonic is used in the thermal barrier. Hot-electron plasmas are produced at total end-cell antenna power levels up to 300 kW. Strong single-pass absorption and net hot-electron heating efficiencies exceeding 40% are observed. Hot-electron parameters achieved are: n/sub eh//n/sub et/ up to 0.8, volume-average beta <..beta..> approx. = 0.15, and T/sub x/ (x-ray tail above 40 keV) in the range 75 to 200 keV