Sawtooth-control mechanism using toroidally propagating ion-cyclotron-resonance waves in tokamaks.

The sawtooth control mechanism in plasmas employing off-axis toroidally propagating ion cyclotron resonance waves in tokamaks is reinvestigated. The radial drift excursion of energetic passing ions distributed asymmetrically in the velocity parallel to the magnetic field determines stability when the rational q=1 surface resides within a narrow region centered about the shifted fundamental cyclotron resonance.

Real-time feedback control of millimeter-wave polarization for LHD.

Electron cyclotron heating (ECH) is widely used in magnetic fusion devices, and the polarization of the injected millimeter-wave beams plays a crucial role in the propagation and absorption of the beam energy by the plasma. This polarization can be adjusted by grating mirror polarizers placed in the transmission lines which carry the microwaves from the power source to the plasma. In long-pulse devices such as the Large Helical Device (LHD) and ITER, it is desirable to track changes in the plasma and adjust the polarization of the ECH in real time such as to keep the absorption as high as possible and avoid shine-through which may lead to overheating of vessel components.

Fast visible imaging of turbulent plasma in TORPEX.

Fast framing cameras constitute an important recent diagnostic development aimed at monitoring light emission from magnetically confined plasmas, and are now commonly used to study turbulence in plasmas. In the TORPEX toroidal device [A. Fasoli et al.

Suprathermal electron studies in the TCV tokamak: design of a tomographic hard-x-ray spectrometer.

Electron cyclotron resonance heating and electron cyclotron current drive, disruptive events, and sawtooth activity are all known to produce suprathermal electrons in fusion devices, motivating increasingly detailed studies of the generation and dynamics of this suprathermal population. Measurements have been performed in the past years in the tokamak a configuration variable (TCV) tokamak using a single pinhole hard-x-ray (HXR) camera and electron-cyclotron-emission radiometers, leading, in particular, to the identification of the crucial role of spatial transport in the physics of ECCD. The observation of a poloidal asymmetry in the emitted suprathermal bremsstrahlung radiation motivates the design of a proposed new tomographic HXR spectrometer reported in this paper.

Diagnostic techniques for measuring suprathermal electron dynamics in plasmas (invited).

Plasmas, both in the laboratory and in space, are often not in thermodynamic equilibrium, and the plasma electron distribution function is accordingly non-Maxwellian. Suprathermal electron tails can be generated by external drives, such as rf waves and electric fields, or internal ones, such as instabilities and magnetic reconnection. The variety and importance of the phenomena in which suprathermal electrons play a significant role explains an enduring interest in diagnostic techniques to investigate their properties and dynamics.

Two-dimensional time resolved measurements of toroidal velocity correlated with density blobs in magnetized plasmas.

A new method for toroidal velocity measurements with Mach probes is presented. This technique is based on the conditional sampling technique, the triggering events being density blobs. A reconstruction of the time resolved two-dimensional profile of electron density, electron temperature, plasma potential, and toroidal velocity is possible with a single point measurement on a shot-to-shot basis.

Dynamics of plasma blobs in a shear flow.

The global dynamic of plasma blobs in a shear flow is investigated in a simple magnetized torus using the spatial Fourier harmonics (k-space) framework. Direct experimental evidence of a linear drift in k space of the density fluctuation energy synchronized with blob events is presented. During this drift, an increase of the fluctuation energy and a production of the kinetic energy associated with blobs are observed.

Cross-field transport by instabilities and blobs in a magnetized toroidal plasma.

The mechanisms for anomalous transport across the magnetic field are investigated in a toroidal magnetized plasma. The role of plasma instabilities and macroscopic density structures (blobs) is discussed. Examples from a scenario with open magnetic field lines are shown.

High- and low-confinement modes in simple magnetized toroidal plasmas.

Three-field simulations of interchange turbulence are presented for a simple magnetized toroidal plasma with a vertical magnetic field. The simulations show the presence of two turbulent regimes characterized by low (L) and high (H) confinement properties. We evaluate analytically the properties of the L regime, obtaining expressions for the plasma gradients and for the density and heat fluxes that agree well with the simulations.

Experimental observation of the blob-generation mechanism from interchange waves in a plasma.

The mechanism for blob generation in a toroidal magnetized plasma is investigated using time-resolved measurements of two-dimensional structures of electron density, temperature, and plasma potential. The blobs are observed to form from a radially elongated structure that is sheared off by the E x B flow. The structure is generated by an interchange wave that increases in amplitude and extends radially in response to a decrease of the radial pressure scale length.

Universal statistical properties of drift-interchange turbulence in TORPEX plasmas.

A unique parabolic relation is observed to link skewness and kurtosis of around ten thousand density fluctuation signals, measured over the whole cross section of a toroidal magnetized plasma for a broad range of experimental conditions. All the probability density functions of the measured signals, including those characterized by a negative skewness, are universally described by a special case of the Beta distribution. Fluctuations in the drift-interchange frequency range are necessary and sufficient to assure that probability density functions can be described by this specific Beta distribution.

Observation of spontaneous toroidal rotation inversion in Ohmically heated Tokamak plasmas.

Bulk plasma toroidal rotation is observed to invert spontaneously from counter to cocurrent direction in TCV (Tokamak à Configuration Variable) Ohmically heated discharges, in low confinement mode, without momentum input. The inversion occurs in high current discharges, when the plasma electron density exceeds a well-defined threshold. The transition between the two rotational regimes has been studied by means of density ramps.

Inductive current density perturbations to probe electron internal transport barriers in tokamaks.

Improved electron energy confinement in tokamak plasmas, related to internal transport barriers, has been linked to nonmonotonic current density profiles. This is difficult to prove experimentally since usually the current profiles evolve continuously and current injection generally requires significant input power. New experiments are presented, in which the inductive current is used to generate positive and negative current density perturbations in the plasma center, with negligible input power.

Rapid and localized electron internal-transport-barrier formation during shear inversion in fully noninductive TCV discharges.

Clear evidence is reported for the first time of a rapid localized reduction of core electron energy diffusivity during the formation of an electron internal-transport barrier. The transition occurs rapidly (approximately = 3 ms), during a slow (approximately = 200 ms) self-inductive evolution of the magnetic shear. This crucial observation, and the correlation of the transition with the time and location of the magnetic shear reversal, lend support to models attributing the reduced transport to the local properties of a zero-shear region, in contrast to models predicting a gradual reduction due to a weak or negative shear.

Effects of a vertical magnetic field on particle confinement in a magnetized plasma torus.

The particle confinement in a magnetized plasma torus with superimposed vertical magnetic field is modeled and measured experimentally. The formation of an equilibrium characterized by a parallel plasma current canceling out the grad B and curvature drifts is described using a two-fluid model. Characteristic response frequencies and relaxation rates are calculated.

Trapped-particle instability leading to bursting in stimulated Raman scattering simulations.

Nonlinear, kinetic simulations of stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) under laser-fusion conditions present a bursting behavior. Different explanations for this regime have been given in previous studies: saturation of SRS by increased nonlinear Landau damping [K. Estabrook et al.

Influence of asymmetric energetic ion distributions on sawtooth stabilization.

The effect of energetic asymmetrically distributed ions on the stability of the internal kink mode in tokamaks is analyzed. Circulating ions which intersect the resonant surface due to finite radial excursion contribute to the mode either in the region of favorable or unfavorable curvature depending on the sign of v( parallel ). Internal kink mode stabilization for predominantly cocirculating ion populations is consistent with the observation of long sawteeth using tangential coinjection of neutral beams in JT-60U [Nucl.

From current-driven to neoclassically driven tearing modes.

In the TCV tokamak, the m/n = 2/1 island is observed in low-density discharges with central electron-cyclotron current drive. The evolution of its width has two distinct growth phases, one of which can be linked to a "conventional" tearing mode driven unstable by the current profile and the other to a neoclassical tearing mode driven by a perturbation of the bootstrap current. The TCV results provide the first clear observation of such a destabilization mechanism and reconcile the theory of conventional and neoclassical tearing modes, which differ only in the dominant driving term.

Control of neoclassical tearing modes by sawtooth control.

The onset of a neoclassical tearing mode (NTM) depends on the existence of a large enough seed island. It is shown in the Joint European Torus that NTMs can be readily destabilized by long-period sawteeth, such as obtained by sawtooth stabilization from ion-cyclotron heating or current drive. This has important implications for burning plasma scenarios, as alpha particles strongly stabilize the sawteeth.

Long-pulse improved central electron confinement in the TCV tokamak with electron cyclotron heating and current drive.

Current profile tailoring by electron cyclotron heating (ECH) and current drive (ECCD) is used to improve central electron energy confinement in the TCV tokamak. Counter-ECCD on axis alone achieves this goal in a transient manner only. A stable scenario is obtained by a two-step sequence of off-axis ECH, which stabilizes magnetohydrodynamics modes, and on-axis counter-ECCD, which generates a flat or inverted current profile.

Steady-state fully noninductive current driven by electron cyclotron waves in a magnetically confined plasma.

A steady-state, fully noninductive plasma current has been sustained for the first time in a tokamak using electron cyclotron current drive only. In this discharge, 123 kA of current have been sustained for the entire gyrotron pulse duration of 2 s. Careful distribution across the plasma minor radius of the power deposited from three 0.

Spectral analyzer for Thomson scattering.

We describe here a four-channel spectral analyzer suitable for use in Thomson scattering diagnostics of plasmas, that incorporates several novel features and is inexpensive and physically compact. It is suitable for spectral analysis of light scattered from plasmas having densities down to approximately 10(14) cm(-3) and temperatures up to several hundred electron volts.