Effect of radial electric field and ripple on edge neutral beam ion distribution in ASDEX Upgrade

Abstract

The neutral beam injected fast ion distribution at the ASDEX Upgrade edge region is studied focusing on the difference between co- and counter-injected neutral beams. The slowing-down distribution of beam ions is simulated using the orbit-following Monte Carlo code ASCOT. The edge fast ion density and its gradient are higher for counter-injection than for co-injection. Also the distribution in the velocity space is different: for co-injection, there exists a population of untrapped particles which for counter-injection is found only when the effect of a non-constant, experimentally obtained quiescent H-mode radial electric field is included in the simulation. Toroidal ripple removes ions having small particle pitch, thereby reducing the density and density gradient, whereas the radial electric field has the opposite effect. Including simultaneously the effects of both ripple and the radial electric field restores the distribution close to the ideal case where both of them are neglected. The radial electric field is found to squeeze the orbit of a counter-injected neutral beam ion but to widen the orbit of a co-injected ion, and to cause transitions in the orbit topologies which are reflected in the fast ion distribution.