First Demonstration of Resonant Pitch-Angle Scattering of Relativistic Electrons by Externally Launched Helicon Waves

Helicon waves (also known as whistler waves) satisfying the normal wave-particle cyclotron resonance are observed to limit the growth and maximum energy of relativistic electrons (REs) in low-density Ohmic DIII-D tokamak plasmas. Following the application of helicon waves, pitch-angle scattering of high-energy REs causes an increase in both synchrotron and electron-cyclotron emissions. The hard x-ray emission, a proxy for the RE population, ceases to grow. Energy-resolved hard x-ray measurements also show a striking decrease in the number of high-energy REs (above the resonance at approximately 8 MeV) to below the noise floor and an increase in low-energy (∼4 MeV) REs. This occurs despite the toroidal electric field remaining high enough to drive exponential RE growth in the absence of helicon waves. These results open new directions for limiting the maximum energy of RE populations in laboratory and fusion plasmas.