On the role of ion heating in ICRF heated discharges in Tore Supra

The effect of bulk ion heating in Tore Supra has been investigated by studying discharges with varying concentrations of minority ions during ICRF hydrogen minority heating in deuterium/⁴He plasmas. As expected, the level of bulk ion heating is found to increase with the minority concentration. Higher levels of ion heating are shown to be accompanied by two significant effects: an improved energy confinement and a strong influence on the plasma rotation.