Calculations show that the fast wave near the lower hybrid frequency may be launched efficiently into large tokamak plasmas. Coupling efficiency is calculated for waves, which may be useful for current drive experiments in the Princeton Large Torus, the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor, and reactor grade plasmas.

A hot stable field-reversed configuration (FRC) has been produced in the C-2 experiment by colliding and merging two high-beta plasmoids preformed by the dynamic version of field-reversed theta-pinch technology. The merging process exhibits the highest poloidal flux amplification obtained in a magnetic confinement system (over tenfold increase). Most of the kinetic energy is converted into thermal energy with total temperature (T(i) + T(e)) exceeding 0.5 keV. The final FRC state exhibits a record FRC lifetime with flux confinement approaching classical values. These findings should have significant implications for fusion research and the physics of magnetic reconnection.