Suppression of drift-type instabilities by radio frequency waves

The use of radio frequency waves is shown to stabilize drift-type waves in a tokamak if the radial profile of the radio frequency field energy is properly chosen. The estimate of the radio frequency power required for this stabilization is found to be rather modest. This result might have important implications as regards whether the use of the radio frequency waves can create a transport barrier to reduce the loss of particle and energy from the plasma. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S1070-664X(98)02212-5].