Ion temperature and toroidal velocity edge transport barriers in KSTAR

Abstract

The structure and evolution of the ion temperature () and toroidal rotation () profile have been investigated in neutral beam injection (NBI)-heated KSTAR H-mode plasmas, both without and with resonant magnetic pertubations (RMPs). A clear disparity between the width of the -pedestal and that of the -pedestal was observed. Also, it was found that there exists a close correlation and weak relative hysteresis between the pedestal and during both L → H and H → L transitions. During the L → H transition, the -pedestal is observed to form ahead of the -pedestal, and build inward from the separatrix. Linear gyrokinetic stability analysis of these KSTAR profiles was performed. The results indicate that parallel velocity shear is a relevant drive for pedestal turbulence and transport. This was largely ignored in previous studies of the pedestal micro-stability. Pedestal ion temperature and rotation profiles were also measured during edge localized mode (ELM) suppression experiments on KSTAR using an n = 1 RMPs. It was found that the top values of the ion temperature and toroidal rotation pedestal drop with RMPs when ELMs are suppressed.