To fully account for finite drift orbit effect of fast ions on wave-particle interaction in ion-cyclotron radio frequency (ICRF) heating experiments in tokamaks, the 5-D finite orbit Monte-Carlo plasma distribution solver ORBIT-RF is coupled with the 2-D full wave code AORSA in a self-consistent way. Comparison results of ORBIT-RF/AORSA simulation against fast-ion Dα (FIDA) measurement of fast-ion distribution as well as CQL3D/ray-tracing simulation with zero-orbit approximation in the DIII-D ICRF wave beam-ion acceleration experiment are presented. Preliminary ORBIT-RF/AORSA results suggest that finite orbit width effects may explain the outward radial shift of the spatial profile measured by FIDA. © 2009 American Institute of Physics.

The five-dimensional finite-orbit Monte Carlo code ORBIT-RF [M. Choi, Phys. Plasmas 12, 1 (2005)] is successfully coupled with the two-dimensional full-wave code all-orders spectral algorithm (AORSA) [E. F. Jaeger, Phys. Plasmas 13, 056101 (2006)] in a self-consistent way to achieve improved predictive modeling for ion cyclotron resonance frequency (ICRF) wave heating experiments in present fusion devices and future ITER [R. Aymar, Nucl. Fusion 41, 1301 (2001)]. The ORBIT-RF/AORSA simulations reproduce fast-ion spectra and spatial profiles qualitatively consistent with fast ion D-alpha [W. W. Heidbrink, Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 49, 1457 (2007)] spectroscopic data in both DIII-D [J. L. Luxon, Nucl. Fusion 42, 614 (2002)] and National Spherical Torus Experiment [M. Ono, Nucl. Fusion 41, 1435 (2001)] high harmonic ICRF heating experiments. This work verifies that both finite-orbit width effect of fast-ion due to its drift motion along the torus and iterations between fast-ion distribution and wave fields are important in modeling ICRF heating experiments. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.