Combined neutral beam injection and fast wave heating at the fourth and fifth cyclotron harmonics accelerate fast ions in the DIII-D tokamak. Measurements with a nine-channel fast-ion D-alpha (FIDA) diagnostic indicate the formation of a fast-ion tail above the injection energy. Tail formation correlates with enhancement of the d-d neutron rate above the value that is expected in the absence of fast-wave acceleration. FIDA spatial profiles and fast-ion pressure profiles inferred from the equilibrium both indicate that the acceleration is near the magnetic axis for a centrally located resonance layer. The enhancement is largest 8-10 cm beyond the radius where the wave frequency equals the cyclotron harmonic, probably due to a combination of Doppler-shift and orbital effects. The fast-ion distribution function calculated by the CQL3D FokkerPlanck code is fairly consistent with the data.

Abstract. In this paper the manipulation of power deposition on divertor targets at DIII-D by application of resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs) for suppression of large Type-I edge localized modes (ELMs) is analysed. We discuss the modification of the ELM characteristics by the RMP applied. It is shown, that the width of the deposition pattern in ELMy H-mode depends linearly on the ELM deposited energy, whereas in the RMP phase of the discharge those patterns are controlled by the externally induced magnetic perturbation. It was also found that the manipulation of heat transport due to application of small, edge resonant magnetic perturbations (RMP) depends on the plasma pedestal electron collisionality . We compare in this analysis RMP and no RMP phases with and without complete ELM suppression. At high , the heat flux during the ELM suppressed phase is of the same order as the inter-ELM and the no-RMP phase. However, below this collisionality value, a slight increase of the total power flux to the divertor is observed during the RMP phase. This is most likely caused by a more negative potential at the divertor surface due to hot electrons reaching the divertor surface from the pedestal area along perturbed, open field lines and/or the density pump out effect.

A new sustained high-performance regime, combining discrete edge and core transport barriers, has been discovered in the DIII-D tokamak. Edge localized modes (ELMs) are replaced by a steady oscillation that increases edge particle transport, thereby allowing particle control with no ELM-induced pulsed divertor heat load. The core barrier resembles those usually seen with a low (L) mode edge, without the degradation often associated with ELMs. The barriers are separated by a narrow region of high transport associated with a zero crossing in the E x B shearing rate.

Fast waves at frequencies far above the ion cyclotron frequency and approaching the lower hybrid frequency (also called 'helicons' or ‘whistlers’) have application to off-axis current drive in tokamaks with high electron beta. The high frequency causes the whistler-like behaviour of the wave power nearly following field lines, but with a small radial component, so the waves spiral slowly towards the plasma centre. The high frequency also contributes to strong damping. Modelling predicts robust off-axis current drive with good efficiency compared to alternatives in high performance discharges in DIII-D and Fusion Nuclear Science Facility (FNSF) when the electron beta is above about 1.8%. Detailed analysis of ray behaviour shows that ray trajectories and damping are deterministic (that is, not strongly affected by plasma profiles or initial ray conditions), unlike the chaotic ray behaviour in lower frequency fast wave experiments. Current drive was found to not be sensitive to the launched value of the parallel index of refraction n‖, so wave accessibility issues can be reduced. Use of a travelling wave antenna provides a very narrow n‖spectrum, which also helps avoid accessibility problems.

Abstract. Combined neutral beam injection and fast wave heating at the fourth cyclotron harmonic produce an energetic deuterium beam ion tail in the DIII-D tokamak. When the concentration of thermal hydrogen exceeds ∼5%, the beam ion absorption is suppressed in favour of second harmonic hydrogen absorption. As theoretically expected, the beam absorption increases with beam ion gyroradius; also, central absorption at the fifth harmonic is weaker than central absorption at the fourth harmonic. For central heating at the fourth harmonic, an energetic, perpendicular, beam population forms inside the q = 1 surface. The beam ion tail transiently stabilizes the sawtooth instability but destabilizes toroidicity induced Alfvén eigenmodes (TAEs). Saturation of the central heating correlates with the onset of the TAEs. Continued expansion of the q = 1 radius eventually precipitates a sawtooth crash; complete magnetic reconnection is observed.

DISCLAIMER I T h i s report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof.

A noninductive current drive concept, based on internal pressure-driven currents in a low-aspect-ratio toroidal geometry, has been demonstrated on the Current Drive Experiment Upgrade (CDX-U) [Forest et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 68, 3559 (1992)] and further tested on DIII-D [in Plasma Physics and Controlled Nuclear Fusion Research, 1986, Proceedings of the 11th International Conference, Kyoto (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1987), Vol. 1, p. 159]. For both experiments, electron cyclotron power provided the necessary heating to breakdown and maintain a plasma with high-βp and low collisionality (εβp∼1, ν*≤1). A poloidal vacuum field similar to a simple magnetic mirror is superimposed on a much stronger toroidal field to provide the initial confinement for a hot, trapped electron species. With application of electron cyclotron heating (ECH), toroidal currents spontaneously flow within the plasma and increase with applied ECH power. The direction of the generated current is independent of the toroidal field direction and depends only on the direction of the poloidal field, scaling inversely with magnitude of the later. On both CDX-U and DIII-D, these currents were large enough that stationary closed flux surfaces were observed to form with no additional Ohmic heating. The existence of such equilibria provides further evidence for the existence of some type of bootstrap current. Equilibrium reconstructions show the resulting plasma exhibits properties similar to more conventional tokamaks, including a peaked current density profile which implies some form of current on axis or nonclassical current transport.

Energy confinement comparable with tokamak quality is achieved in the Madison Symmetric Torus (MST) reversed field pinch (RFP) at a high beta and low toroidal magnetic field. Magnetic fluctuations normally present in the RFP are reduced via parallel current drive in the outer region of the plasma. In response, the electron temperature nearly triples and beta doubles. The confinement time increases tenfold (to ∼10 ms), which is comparable with Land H-mode scaling values for a tokamak with the same plasma current, density, heating power, size and shape. Runaway electron confinement is evidenced by a 100-fold increase in hard x-ray bremsstrahlung. Fokker-Planck modelling of the x-ray energy spectrum reveals that the high energy electron diffusion is independent of the parallel velocity, uncharacteristic of magnetic transport and more like that for electrostatic turbulence. The high core electron temperature correlates strongly with a broadband reduction of resonant modes at mid-radius where the stochasticity is normally most intense. To extend profile control and add auxiliary heating, rf current drive and neutral beam heating are in development. Low power lower-hybrid and electron Bernstein wave injection experiments are underway. Dc current sustainment via ac helicity injection (sinusoidal inductive loop voltages) is also being tested. Low power neutral beam injection shows that fast ions are well-confined, even in the presence of relatively large magnetic fluctuations.