Fast dynamics of type I ELMs and transport of the ELM pulse in JT-60U

Abstract

Simultaneous fast ELM measurements using a reflectometer, interferometers, Dα intensity and a magnetic probe reveal the detailed characteristics of type I ELMs. From the phase signal of the reflectometer indicating the radial movement of the cut-off layer, four different phases in the ELM event, i.e. a precursor phase, collapse phase, recovery phase and a relaxation phase, were observed. In the collapse phase, the radial extent of the collapse of the density pedestal reached up to twice the pedestal width. A fast drop of the horizontal interferometer signal was observed, while the vertical interferometer on the high-field side edge plasma only exhibited a small and delayed reduction. These features of the plasma response due to ELMs might indicate a non-uniform collapse of the density pedestal in the poloidal direction, localized near the low-field side (LFS) midplane. Expelled particles from the LFS midplane were measured by using scrape-off layer Mach probes, and the heat flux to the divertor target was measured using a fast infrared TV camera. The time constant of the peak heat load was comparable to that of the enhancement of the plasma flow towards the divertor target. The normalized ELM energy loss by pedestal stored energy in JT-60U was found to be less than 10% of the pedestal stored energy. It shows weak dependence on the pedestal parameters such as electron collisionality, parallel ion loss time and the ratio of the pedestal density to the Greenwald density limit.