ABSTRACT

There are many uses for microwaves in nuclear fusion, including both for magnetic confinement fusion as well as for inertial confinement fusion. These uses include both diagnosing the plasma and, when high power microwaves are applied to the plasma, for affecting the behavior of the plasma. This chapter reviews certain recent developments in the application of intense microwaves to tokamaks. A theme that is developed here is the increasing use of microwaves in recent years for detailed control of charged particles in a plasma, something that might be referred to as “phase space engineering.”