No abstract

A bifurcative step transition from low-density, high-temperature, attached divertor conditions to high-density, low-temperature, detached divertor conditions is experimentally observed in DIII-D tokamak plasmas as density is increased. The step transition is only observed in the high confinement mode and only when the B×∇B drift is directed towards the divertor. This work reports for the first time a theoretical explanation and numerical simulations that qualitatively reproduce this bifurcation and its dependence on the toroidal field direction. According to the model, the bifurcation is primarily driven by the interdependence of the E×B-drift fluxes, divertor electric potential structure, and divertor conditions. In the attached conditions, strong potential gradients in the low field side (LFS) divertor drive E×B-drift flux towards the high field side divertor, reinforcing low density, high temperature conditions in the LFS divertor leg. At the onset of detachment, reduction in the potential gradients in the LFS divertor leg reduce the E×B-drift flux as well, such that the divertor plasma evolves nonlinearly to high density, strongly detached conditions. Experimental estimates of the E×B-drift fluxes, based on divertor Thomson scattering measurements, and their dependence on the divertor conditions are qualitatively consistent with the numerical predictions. The implications for divertor power exhaust and detachment control in the next step fusion devices are discussed.

In this paper we report the development of the single frequency dye laser as a plasma diagnostic for measuring ion velocity distributions with a resolution limited only by the naturallinewidth of the laser excited resonance transition. For the 6S1!2-6P1!2 transition in Ba+ this corresponds to a velocity uncertainty of 10 3 cm/s. Velocity selection is performed by the laser as it scans the Doppler broadened plasma absorption line, in contrast with the usual method of scanning an emission line with a high-resolution spectrometer. Both sensitivity and resolution are improved by 2 orders of magnitude, allowing nonperturbing measurements to be made at densities below 10 7 cm -3. In addition to a description of the technique, sample measurements of time-resolved wave induced modifications of ion velocity distributions are shown. P ACS numbers: 52.25.Fi, 52.70.Kz

Results and interpretation of recent experiments on DIII-D designed to evaluate divertor geometries favourable for radiative heat dispersal are presented. Two approaches examined here involved lengthening the parallel connection in the scrape-off layer, L‖, and increasing the radius of the outer divertor separatrix strike point, ROSP, with the goal of reducing target temperature, TTAR, and increasing target density, nTAR. From one-dimensional (1D) two-point modelling based on conducted parallel heat flux, it is expected that: and , where nSEP is the midplane separatrix density. These scalings suggest that conditions conducive to a radiative divertor solution can be achieved at low nSEP by increasing either ROSP or L‖. Our data are consistent with the above L‖ scalings. On the other hand, the observed dependence of nTAR and TTAR on ROSP displayed a more complex behaviour, under certain conditions deviating from the above scalings. Our analysis indicates that deviations from the ROSP scaling were due to the presence of convected heat flux, driven by escaping neutrals, in the more open configurations of the larger ROSP cases. A comparison of ‘open’ versus ‘closed’ divertor configurations for the H-mode plasmas in this study show that the ‘closed’ case provides at least 30% reduction in the peaked heat flux at common density with the ‘open’ case and partial divertor detachment at lower plasma density.

A series of controlled experiments has been carried out in DIII-D to induce a bulk ion flow in the SOL and evaluate its effect on the localization of impurities in the divertor. This induced SOL flow was created by simultaneous deuterium puffing and divertor exhaust using a divertor cryopump, and the impurity enrichment was measured directly. The experiments were designed to compare enrichment in discharges with and without induced flow having otherwise similiar divertor parameters. Significant increases in impurity compression and enrichment are observed when flow is induced, and the degree of impurity enrichment in the divertor is found to be dependent on the impurity of interest. Detailed particle measurements made possible by the direct measurement of impurity densities in several reservoirs indicate reasonable particle balance for helium throughout the duration of the discharge. Conversely, while the total input of neon is balanced by the total exhaust by the end of a discharge, particle balance is not observed during the course of the discharge. A significant wall inventory with a short release time (∼10 ms) is surmised.