Edge plasma characteristics in the helicity injected torus (HIT-II) spherical tokamak

Abstract

The helicity injected torus (HIT-II) device is a spherical tokamak capable of both inductive (Ohmic) and co-axial helicity injection (CHI) current drive. The HIT-II plasma edge, in both Ohmic and CHI discharges, has been characterized using a triple Langmuir probe. An Ohmic discharge develops in two phases, a slide-away phase followed by a normal Ohmic discharge. During the normal Ohmic discharge, the floating potential is negative, just as in a conventional large-aspect-ratio tokamak. The plasma density increases sharply from the plasma edge into the centre. The auto-power spectrum of Ohmic plasma edge fluctuations shows a nearly constant auto-power at low frequencies, with auto-power decreasing at higher frequencies, similar to observations in conventional large-aspect-ratio tokamaks. In HIT-II CHI discharges, the magnetic field lines at the plasma edge are clearly connected to the injector electrodes, as expected. However, the time-evolution of the floating potential in the core plasma is significantly different from that of the edge, which may indicate a decoupling of the core plasma from the CHI electrodes. Finally, the fluctuations at the edge of high-performance CHI discharges exhibit a coherent oscillation at a frequency similar to that of the observed n = 1 mode.