High density current drive by high frequency radiation

A self-consistent theory is developed for current drive by intense radiation in the presence of the ion-acoustic instability. The spectrum of ion-acoustic turbulent noise generated by the driven current and concentrated in a limited cone of angles along the propagation direction of the wave is found. Excitation of the instability is accompanied by the establishment of an electron drift that is excited by the electromagnetic wave and has a velocity on the order of the ion acoustic speed. This current drive regime is realized over a wide range of intensities, as long as the region of turbulence in the angles of the acoustic wave vector is expanding. At yet higher intensities, the driven current increases in proportion to the intensity of the fundamental wave. Similar behavior is found for driven heat fluxes. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 111, 107–119 (January 1997)