Electron Cyclotron Emissions from Mirror Trapped Plasma: Observations and Modelling Results

We report observations of electromagnetic emissions at electron cyclotron harmonics in a mirror-confined electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma. The present research has achieved a new understanding of electron cyclotron instabilities by comparing measurements of emissions from a well-diagnosed laboratory plasma, with the predictions of analytical theory supported by Vlasov simulations. A notable success of this work is the revelation of the subtle effects that the presence of multi-component electron distribution functions involving a warm and ring-distributed
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200–400 eV mirror-confined population of electrons and a much colder 1 eV component have on the excitation of electron cyclotron instabilities. This new understanding resulting from the research reported here is likely to have a significant impact on the many areas where electron cyclotron instabilities are of fundamental importance, including astrophysical plasmas2, near-Earth solar-terrestrial plasmas3, laboratory tokamak and stellarator fusion plasmas and electron cyclotron resonance sources.