Influence of radial electric field on trajectories of plug potential bounce ion in the tandem mirror

Bouncing ions between the plug potentials play an important role in improvement of the axial confinement in the tandem mirror. We examined the influence of the radial electric field on the trajectories of the ions passed through the anchor cell with nonaxisymmetric magnetic configuration on the assumption that the shape of the magnetic flux tube was shifted from the shape of the equipotential surface of the plasma at the mirror throats of the anchor cells. The discrepancy between the shapes enhanced the radial drift of the bounce ion. Radial potential profile of the core plasma was controlled by adjustment of the radially separated endplate potentials, and it was found that the flattened radial potential profile was effective for the decrease of the radial drift. Presented at 5th Workshop “Role of Electric Fields in Plasma Confinement and Exhaust”, Montreux, Switzerland, June 23–24, 2002.     

Impact of fast vertical and radial plasma movement on type-I ELMs in ASDEX upgrade

For the ITER project it is clear that steps have to be taken in order to avoid or mitigate type-I ELMs when operating in the standard H-mode scenario. Otherwise, divertor power loads induced by intrinsic ELMs will result in an intolerably short divertor life time. Amongst others, “magnetic triggering” based on a fast vertical movement of the plasma column has proven its ability to achieve ELM frequency control and hence mitigation by locking the ELM frequency to the imposed motion. Here, we report on an attempt to widen this approach by applying a cyclic radial plasma shift. Although motional cycle amplitudes sufficient for ELM frequency locking were achieved even easier than in the vertical case, no ELM control was established for the radial case. Analysis of this different behaviour can allow for better insight into underlying ELM release mechanisms and might potentially be a useful tool for mapping out ELM stability boundaries. Presented at the Workshop “Electric Fields, Structures and Relaxation in Edge Plasmas”, Roma, Italy, June 26–27, 2006.     

Characteristics of electron-free plasma confinement in an rf quadrupole field

A low-density plasma composed solely of massive atomic ions, namely Tl⁺ and I⁻, was produced by photodissociation of molecular TlI at low pressure, using the powerful 206 nm atomic iodine emission line, and confined in a Paul rf quadrupole electric field. A simple theoretical model based on an infinite homogeneous plasma of low density is used to estimate the perturbation of the ion oscillation frequencies in the external field due to the electrostatic interaction between the ions. The decay characteristics of the plasma under ionic recombinations were observed over a period of 10s, and the absolute ion density determined to be 1.1×10⁷ cm⁻³ with a maximum energy on the order of 5 eV. This work was originally undertaken at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD., USA (1970–71) and continued at the CNRS Laboratoire de l'Horloge Atomique, Orsay, France. On leave at Department of Physics, University of Kuwait, Kuwait, Arabian Gulf.     

About bursty behaviour, coherent structures, wide scrape-off layer and large parallel flows in the edge of the Tore Supra tokamak

We present the measurements of plasma characteristics in the scrape-off layer (SOL) of the Tore Supra tokamak performed by means of reciprocating Langmuir probe. The probe is inserted into the machine from top. As the radial distance from last closed flux surface (LCFS) increases, ion saturation current exhibits stronger bursty character and its probability density function becomes increasingly skewed towards positive values. At the same time, burst duration and inter-burst time increase dramatically. We explain this phenomenon by radial propagation and dynamics of the ensemble of coherent turbulent structures of different size. The results of two-dimensional fluid modelling based of flux-driven interchange instability mechanism are in excellent agreement with experimental results. We obtained clear experimental evidence that most of the coherent structures are formed in poloidally localized region of the SOL around the outboard midplane. If the probe is magnetically connected to this region, the SOL is very wide and we detect bursty behaviour in the far SOL. On the other hand, if the probe is not magnetically connected to the outboard midplane region (magnetic field lines are intercepted by the outboard limiter), then the SOL is very thin and bursty behaviour is much less prominent. Detection of bursty behaviour in the far SOL is correlated with existence of wide SOL pointing on important role of bursty transport by means of coherent turbulent structures in establishing the width of the SOL in tokamaks. The measurements of parallel flow in the SOL shows that plasma particle radial flux coming from confinement region to the SOL is mostly poloidally localized around the outboard midplane. Our estimations show that more than 80% of plasma particle radial flux is coming from confinement region to the SOL in poloidally localized region — approximately ±15° — around the outboard midplane. Presented at the Workshop “Electric Fields, Structures and Relaxation in Edge Plasmas”, Roma, Italy, June 26–27, 2006.     

A DC probe diagnostics for fast electron temperature measurements in tokamak edge plasmas

The tunnel probe is a new kind of Langmuir probe for use in the tokamak scrape-off layer. It provides simultaneous measurements of electron temperature and parallel ion current density with high frequency at the same point in space. We describe ongoing work to characterize the ion flows within the probe, and to calibrate the diagnostics using 2D kinetic simulations. Presented at 5th Workshop “Role of Electric Fields in Plasma Confinement and Exhaust”, Montreus, Seitzerland, June 23–24, 2002.     

Dynamics of the transport barrier formation on the FT-2 tokamak caused by lower hybrid heating

Experiments at the FT-2 tokamak had demonstrated effective plasma LH heating, which was accounted for by both direct absorption of RF power and plasma transport suppression. The improved core confinement accompanied by Internal Transport Barrier (ITB) formation was observed. The RF pulse switch off is followed by triggering of LH transition and the External Transport Barrier (ETB) formation near the last closed flux surface. The present paper is devoted to a much more detailed study of the radial electric fieldE _r behaviour in the region of ITB and ETB and its influence on the tokamak microturbulence in these regions. The new experimental data were obtained by spatial spectroscopic technique using additional pulse helium puffing in hydrogen plasma. Simultaneously microscale plasma oscillations in the frequency band (0.01–2) MHz are observed with local enhanced microwave scattering diagnostics and by x-mode fluctuation reflectometry. Experiments demonstrate that the improved confinement is associated with the modification of microturbulence by the shear of theE×B poloidal velocity. This conclusion is also confirmed by the data obtained by Langmuir probes in the edge plasma. Presented at 5th Workshop “Role of Electric Fields in Plasma Confinement and Exhaust”, Montreux, Switzerland, June 23–24, 2002”. The study was performed with the support of the Ministry of General and Professional Education of RF (TOO-7.4-2797), INTAS-01-2056 and the RFBR Grants 00-02-16927, 01-02-17926 and 02-02-17684.     

Evolution of statistical properties of ion temperature gradient driven turbulence during the formation of internal transport barrier in a tokamak

Statistical properties of ion temperature gradient driven turbulence and anomalous flux are analysed in plasmas with low and improved energy confinement. The turbulence is simulated using the three dimensional fluid code, where the source is prescribed and the turbulence and temperature profile evolve self-consistently. The transition to the improved core confinement with an internal transport barrier is obtained by increasing the heating power. It is found that the momentums of the probability distribution function of flux fluctuations reduce to their Gaussian values when the transport barrier on the temperature profile forms. The formation of the oscillating structure with the properties of linear wave has been found at very high heating power. Presented at 5th Workshop “Role of Electric Fields in Plasma Confinement and Exhaust”, Montreux, Switzerland, June 23–24, 2002.     

Potential Confinement of a High Density Plasma in the GAMMA 10 Tandem Mirror

Potential confinement was demonstrated experimentally under various electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) scenarios. The particle confinement time and the plasma confining potential increased with ECRH power. The plug potential formation by means of only _ce ECRH was studied by Monte-Carlo simulation. Potential confinement experiments have advanced in higher density region up to 4×10¹² cm^-3. The higher density plasma was obtained by high frequency ICRF heating and recently installed neutral beam injector in the central cell. Studies of scaling relation of the potential confinement with respect to the plasma density have started with the high density plasma.     

Relaxation phenomena induced by edge biasing experiments in the CASTOR tokamak

In this paper we present the first experimental results obtained in the CASTOR tokamak by using a segmented biasing electrode, which is composed of five segments radially separated by 3 mm. The basic idea of choosing such configuration was to allow a spatial distribution of the biasing voltage in the radial direction. In the described experiments, one or more selected segments can be biased up to +300V, while the remaining segments can be either grounded or floating. Two rake probes measure the edge radial profiles of the floating potential and the ion saturation current at the top and low field side of the torus. A Gundestrup probe, located at the top of the torus, measures the parallel and perpendicular Mach numbers together with the local electron temperature and density. A clear and reproducible transition to a regime with improved particle confinement is routinely observed, if the electrode is inserted deep enough into the plasma (r/a ≈ 0.5) and if one or two segments are biased up to +250V (the remaining segments are floating). The steepening of the radial profiles of the plasma density and potential demonstrate the formation of a transport barrier just inside the last closed flux surface. Fast relaxations of the edge profiles, with a frequency of about 10 kHz or higher, are observed when the value of the average radial electric field within the barrier reaches values of about 20 kV/m and the density gradient increases up to a factor 3 with respect to the ohmic phase. A detailed analysis of the spatial-temporal behavior of these relaxations is presented. Presented at the Workshop “Electric Fields, Structures and Relaxation in Edge Plasmas”, Tarragona, Spain, July 3–4, 2005.     

Energy confinement and high-k turbulence on HT-7 tokamak

A CO₂ collective scattering system has been developed to measure medium and high-k density fluctuation on HT-7 tokamak. Energy confinement and high-k density fluctuation are studied in ohmic discharges. The saturation of confinement was observed at approximately . For kθ=23 cm⁻¹ turbulence, it is found that fluctuation levels have great increase for , and simultaneously a high frequency turbulence feature appear in the frequency spectra. For kθ=14 cm⁻¹ turbulence, it is observed that fluctuation levels have no changes in uncertainties and the spectra are similar at all discharges in this experiment.     

Density Fluctuation Measurements Using FIR Interferometer on HL-2A Tokamak

Density fluctuations were first measured in the core region of HL-2A tokamak plasma using a newly developed multi-channel FIR interferometer system. In divertor ohmic discharges, we measured the radial density fluctuation levels of 5%, which increase to 10-20% during the appearance of MHD activity. Most of the power density in the density fluctuation spectrum is directly associated with m = 2 tearing modes. The fluctuation levels reduce to 1/3 and plasma confinement is improved during off-axis electron-cyclotron-resonance heating （ECRH）.     

Establishment of Configuration with Optimized Current Profile in Pellet Fuelled Discharge on HL-2A

A sawtooth-free period is produced following the pellet injection in the pellet fuelled discharge of qa = 3.4 （where qa is the safety factor at the plasma boundary） in the HL-2A tokamak. Establishment of the current profile such as in the hybrid scenario is studied under the condition of pellet injection in HL-2A. It is shown that a q-profile of weak negative shear is produced immediately after the pellet injection, and it then evolves to a broad flat profile with q0 〉 1 （where qo is the safety factor at the centre）. The measured MHD mode structures evidence consistencies of the evaluated q-profile with locations of the q = 1 surface in the sawtoothing period and of the q = 2 surface in the sawtooth-free period. TRANSP analysis indicates that the energy confinement is enhanced substantially during and after pellet injection, which is resulted from the q-profile optimization and the plasma density peaking.     

Plasma flow in MST: Effects of edge biasing and momentum transport from nonlinear magnetic torques

Edge biasing in MST plasmas decreases electrostatic turbulent particle transport and increases the global particle confinement time. New Langmuir probe measurements in the edge identify decreased electric field fluctuations and increased anti-correlation of density and potential fluctuations to be responsible. Fast loss of momentum in the core of MST during sawtooth crash events can be explained as a result of nonlinear magnetic torques which allow viscous coupling over relatively distant regions of the plasma. Flow modifications resulting from biasing, plus other experiments, help reveal the nonlinear nature of this process, most directly measured by the triple product bispectral correlation between the nonlinearly interacting modes. Presented at the Workshop on the Role of Electric Fields in Plasma Confinement and Exhaust, Budapest, 18–19 June, 2000.     

Sensitivity of the plasma electric potential to the transport barriers formation

Heavy Ion Beam Probe diagnostics was used to study plasma potential and density in the regimes with improvement in confinement on the T-10 tokamak. Time-spatial potential distribution was analyzed during the formation of transport barriers. The time evolution of the potential profile shows simultaneous formation of the internal negative potential well and external layer with strong Er, during the simultaneous formation of the internal and external transport barriers. The time history of the plasma potential in the inner region (0.6<ρ<1) shows its clear correlation with theD _α intensity. Presented at the Workshop on the Role of Electric Fields in Plasma Confinement and Exhaust, Budapest, 18–19 June, 2000. This work was supported by Russian Basic Research Foundation, Grant No. 99-02-18457.     

Influence of peripheral radial electric field on L-H transition in T-10 tokamak

In this paper the peripheral plasma behaviour during and after L-H transition on the tokamak T-10 is considered. Abrupt changes of Scrape-Off Layer (SOL) plasma parameters (ion saturation current, floating potential, electron temperature) are observed in regimes with transition to the improved plasma confinement. Such changes begin (5–150) ms prior to the L-H transition. The time delay of a transition depends on auxiliary plasma heating powerP _aux and plasma currentI _p (at constant toroidal magnetic field inductionB _t). Presented at the Workshop on the Role of Electric Fields in Plasma Confinement and Exhaust, Budapest, 18–19 June, 2000. This work is supported by Ministry of Atomic Energy of Russia (contract 69F) and by Ministry of Science and Technology of Russia (Federal Program “Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion and Plasma Processes”).     

The dimension of the core and the tail of the plasma produced by laser ablating SiC targets

Optical emission of the plasma generated on SiC samples by pulsed laser beam from an Nd:YAG laser was used to investigate the spatial evolution of the electron temperature (Te) and density (Ne) of the plasma. The range and the profile of the plasma were characterized by the electron temperature Te and the electron density Ne, as functions of the distance from the SiC surface. It was found that the characterized spatial distribution closely coincided with the spatial images of the plasma recorded by a digital camera. The results obtained from the two different experimental measurements are consistent with other data from the literature, obtained either by models or experiments. The present result may give the insight to the complex physical phenomena in the thin film preparations using the pulsed laser deposition (PLD).     

Transport and fluctuations during electrode biasing on TJ-II

Edge polarization experiments were carried out on TJ-II using an electrode. It has been found that the plasma response is different at densities below and above the threshold value to trigger the spontaneously development of E × B sheared flows. At low densities, the edge plasma potential is fully controlled by external biasing, while at higher densities it is determined not only by external biasing but also by the electric fields spontaneous developed. Although an improvement in particle confinement is observed for both polarities, a larger increase is observed for negative electrode bias. Presented at the Workshop “Electric Fields, Structures and Relaxation in Edge Plasmas”, Tarragona, Spain, July 3–4, 2005.     

多电荷态气脉冲式ECR离子源(摘要)

A new type of pulse sources of multicharged ions,namely,a quasi-gasdynamic ECR source is propose.Its main difference from the classical ECR ion sources is a different,quasi-gasdynamic regime of plasma confinement in a magnetic trap.A zero-dimensional model was constructed that describes gas breakdown, formation of charge state distribution in a plasma,and plasma flux through the plugs of the trap.A wide spectrum of model experimental studies was covered.Plasma was produced and heated by a pulse(1ms) gyrotron at the frequency of 37.5GHz and power of 100kW in a cusp magnetic trap with magnetic field in plugs up to 2.5T.Such a trap has axisymmetric configuration and allows one to realize a quasi-gasdynamic regime of confinement with reliable stabilization of MHD perturbations.It was demonstrated that with such a confinement regime it is possible to generate multicharged ions and create intense(more than 1A/cm~2)ion fluxes through the trap plugs.Comparison of results of calculations and data of experiments shows that they are in a good agreement,which allows us to predict with a high degree of certainty creation of an ECR source of a new generation. The data obtained were used to design a pulse quasi-gasdynamic ECR ion source with pumping at the frequency of 100GHz,effective trap size lm,average ion charge in plasma comparable with that in the best classical MCI ECR sources but with an order of magnitude higher flux density and absolute magnitude of plasma flux through trap plugs.Creation of intense plasma fluxes allows one to extract high-current MCI beams of high brightness.Transverse homogeneity of a plasma flux makes it possible to use multi-aperture extraction system for formation on broad intense MCI beams.     

Spontaneous edge <Emphasis Type="Italic">E</Emphasis> × <Emphasis Type="Italic">B</Emphasis> sheared flow development studies in the TJ-II stellarator

The influence of plasma density and edge gradients in the development of perpendicular sheared flow has been investigated in the plasma edge region of the TJ-II stellarator. It has been experimentally observed that the generation of spontaneous perpendicular sheared flow (i.e. the naturally occurring shear layer) requires a minimum plasma density or gradient. It has been found that there is a coupling between the onset of sheared flow development and an increase in the level of plasma edge turbulence; once sheared flow is fully developed the level of fluctuations and turbulent transport slightly decreases whereas edge gradients and plasma density increase. The resulting shearing rate is close to the one required to trigger a transition to improved confinement regimes with reduction of edge turbulence, showing that spontaneous sheared flows and fluctuations keep themselves near marginal stability. Presented at the Workshop “Electric Fields, Structures and Relaxation in Edge Plasmas”, Tarragona, Spain, July 3–4, 2005.     

Statistical properties of turbulence in a toroidal magnetized ECR plasma

The statistical analyses of fluctuation data measured by electrostatic-probe arrays clearly show that the self-organized criticality (SOC) avalanches are not the dominant behaviors in a toroidal ECR plasma in the SMT (Simple Magnetic Torus) mode of KT-5D device. The f⁻¹ index region in the auto-correlation spectra of the floating potential Vf and the ion saturation current Is, which is a fingerprint of a SOC system, ranges only in a narrow frequency band. By investigating the Hurst exponents at increasingly coarse grained time series, we find that at a time scale of τ>100 μs, there exists no or a very weak long-range correlation over two decades in τ. The difference between the PDFs of Is and Vf clearly shows a more global nature of the latter. The transport flux induced by the turbulence suggests that the natural intermittency of turbulent transport maybe independent of the avalanche induced by near criticality. The drift instability is dominant in a SMT plasma generated by means of ECR discharges.