Alfvén Wave Heating Experiment of Field-Reversed Configuration Plasma in the Fix Device Using Low Frequency Magnetic Pulse

An experiment of Alfvén wave excitation and heating of a field-reversed configuration (FRC) plasma is presented. A low frequency magnetic pulse is applied to the FRC plasma by an azimuthally symmetrical antenna. After the pulse applied, an obvious increase of the plasma energy and the propagation of the magnetic wave are simultaneously observed. The excited wave propagates along the steady magnetic field line with the radially distributed phase velocity. The phase velocity outside the separatrix agrees the dispersion relation of the shear Alfvén wave. On the other hand, it is close to the acoustic speed, inside the separatrix. It is also observed that there is a generation of a non-oscillating toroidal magnetic field, which is possible to cause the heating of the FRC plasma.