Impurity transport during the H-mode in DIII-D

Abstract

In H-mode plasmas in DIII-D, large modulations in spectroscopically measured impurity densities have been observed during shots with giant edge localized modes (ELMs). These spectral modulations have been analysed with the MIST impurity transport code. This analysis indicates that impurities are alternately flowing towards the plasma centre and then away from it. This alternating flow is correlated with ELM produced changes in the electron density. The electron density oscillations are extreme, causing the density profile to switch from hollow (just before an ELM) to centrally peaked (just after an ELM). Neoclassical convection, dependent on ion density gradients, causes impurities to concentrate most heavily where the electron density is largest and can explain the modulating impurity behaviour. Anomalous diffusion, D ≃ 1.0 × 104 cm2/s, reduces the degree of impurity peaking. As the plasma current increases, the increase in hollowness of electron density profiles can account for the observed decrease in central impurity accumulation. Transport of cobalt, injected by laser ablation, has also been studied; cobalt transport variations are consistent with the ELM induced changes seen in intrinsic impurity transport. The transport results may be consistent with neoclassical impurity convective fluxes and suggest that impurity accumulation in tokamaks will occur unless the electron density profile is flat or particle confinement is low.