Flux buildup in field reversed configurations using rotating magnetic fields

Rotating magnetic field (RMF) current drive is a very attractive method for both increasing the flux and sustaining the current in field reversed configurations (FRC). It has been demonstrated in low temperature, low field rotamaks, and will now be applied to a new translation, confinement, and sustainment (TCS) experiment attached to the LSX/mod (Large s field-reversed configuration Experiment) facility [Hoffman et al. Fusion Technol. 23, 185 (1993)]. Previous RMF calculations have been concerned primarily with the plasma currents and particle orbits produced in one-dimensional cylinders with the rotating field strength of near equal magnitude to the confining axial field. Both fluid current and particle orbits are calculated here in the more interesting regime appropriate to TCS and reactors where the confinement field far exceeds the rotating field strength. New insight is gained into both the flux buildup requirements for two-dimensional equilibria and into the limits on ion rotation in this high confinement field regime. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.