Measurements of long-wavelength density fluctuations in TFTR

Abstract

Several experiments have been devised to measure plasma fluctuations in an effort to help elucidate a possible connection between plasma microturbulence and anomalous transport. Results from microwave scattering on the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) [Nucl. Fusion 18, 1089 (1978)] show that the level of plasma fluctuations increases toward the long-wavelength region (k⊥ρs≤0.2), at which point the fluctuations cannot be spatially resolved. The desire to measure long-wavelength fluctuations has motivated the development of two fluctuation diagnostics, beam emission spectroscopy (BES), and microwave reflectometry on TFTR. BES measures long-wavelength density fluctuations (k⊥≤2 cm−1) by observing the fluorescence emitted from collisionally excited atoms in a TFTR heating beam. In L-mode discharges with relatively flat density profiles, the fluctuations measured with BES are concentrated in the low-frequency region (≤30 kHz). In the laboratory frame, the fluctuations have a poloidal propagation velocity that is approximately equal to that of the plasma rotation, and the frequency spectra are broadened by Doppler effects. Measured fluctuation levels are 5%–10% at the edge of the plasma. In the core, the level falls to less than 1%, which is comparable to observations made with microwave reflectometry and scattering. The fluctuation level in the core (r/a=0.7) is seen to increase with injected beam power, as is observed with microwave scattering at shorter wavelengths (k⊥≊2–10 cm−1). In contrast, the fluctuation level in the edge region does not change significantly with neutral beam power.