Investigations of Low and Moderate Harmonic Fast Wave Physics on CDX-U

Third harmonic hydrogen cyclotron fast wave heating studies are planned in the near term on CDX-U to investigate the potential for bulk ion heating. In preparation for these studies, the available radio-frequency power in CDX-U has been increased to 0.5 MW. The operating frequency of the CDX-U radio-frequency transmitter was lowered to operate in the range of 8-10 MHz, providing access to the ion harmonic range 2* {approx} 4* in hydrogen. A similar regime is accessible for the 30 MHz radio-frequency system on the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX), at 0.6 Tesla in hydrogen. Preliminary computational studies over the plasma regimes of interest for NSTX and CDX-U indicate the possibility of strong localized absorption on bulk ion species.