Recent experiments on EAST have achieved the first long pulse H-mode (61 s) with zero loop voltage and an ITER-like tungsten divertor, and have demonstrated access to broad plasma current profiles by increasing the density in fully-noninductive lower hybrid current-driven discharges. These long pulse discharges reach wall thermal and particle balance, exhibit stationary good confinement (H 98y2 ~ 1.1) with low core electron transport, and are only possible with optimal active cooling of the tungsten armors. In separate experiments, the electron density was systematically varied in order to study its effect on the deposition profile of the external lower hybrid current drive (LHCD), while keeping the plasma in fully-noninductive conditions and with divertor strike points on the tungsten divertor. A broadening of the current profile is found, as indicated by lower values of the internal inductance at higher density. A broad current profile is attractive because, among other reasons, it enables internal transport barriers at large minor radius, leading to improved confinement as shown in companion DIII-D experiments. These experiments strengthen the physics basis for achieving high performance, steady state discharges in future burning plasmas.

Using a 2 MW 2.45 GHz lower hybrid wave (LHW) system installed in experimental advanced superconducting tokamak, we have systematically carried out LHW-plasma coupling and lower hybrid current drive experiments in both divertor (double null and lower single null) and limiter plasma configuration with plasma current (I p ) $ 250 kA and central line averaged density (n e ) $ 1.0-1.3 Â 10 19 m À3 recently. Results show that the reflection coefficient (RC) first is flat up to some distance between plasma and LHW grill, and then increases with the distance. Studies indicate that with the same plasma parameters, the best coupling is obtained in the limiter case (with plasma leaning on the inner wall), followed by the lower single null, and the one with the worst coupling is the double null configuration, explained by different magnetic connection length. The RCs in the different poloidal rows show that they have different coupling characteristics, possibly due to local magnetic connection length. Current drive efficiency has been investigated by a least squares fit with N peak == ¼ 2:1, where N peak == is the peak value of parallel refractive index of the launched wave. Results show that there is no obvious difference in the current drive efficiency between double null and lower single null cases, whereas the efficiency is somewhat small in the limiter configuration. This is in agreement with the ray tracing=Fokker-Planck code simulation by LUKE=C3PO and can be interpreted by the power spectrum up-shift factor in different plasma configurations. A transformer recharge is realized with $0.8 MW LHW power and the energy conversion efficiency from LHW to poloidal field energy is about 2%.

The fast electron flux driven by Lower Hybrid Wave (LHW) in the scrape-off layer (SOL) in EAST is analyzed both theoretically and experimentally. The five bright belts flowing along the magnetic field lines in the SOL and hot spots at LHW guard limiters observed by charge coupled device and infrared cameras are attributed to the fast electron flux, which is directly measured by retarding field analyzers (RFA). The current carried by the fast electron flux, ranging from 400 to 6000 A/m 2 and in the direction opposite to the plasma current, is scanned along the radial direction from the limiter surface to the position about 25 mm beyond the limiter. The measured fast electron flux is attributed to the high parallel wave refractive index n jj components of LHW. According to the antenna structure and the LHW power absorbed by plasma, a broad parallel electric field spectrum of incident wave from the antennas is estimated. The radial distribution of LHW-driven current density is analyzed in SOL based on Landau damping of the LHW. The analytical results support the RFA measurements, showing a certain level of consistency. In addition, the deposition profile of the LHW power density in SOL is also calculated utilizing this simple model. This study provides some fundamental insight into the heating and current drive effects induced by LHW in SOL, and should also help to interpret the observations and related numerical analyses of the behaviors of bright belts and hot spots induced by LHW. V C 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.