Plasma boundary and SOL studies of ECH-plasmas in TJ-II stellarator with diagnosed mobile poloidal limiters

Abstract

TJ-II is a medium size (major radius R=1.5 m, average minor plasma radius a<0.2 m , on axis magnetic field B=1 T) helical axis stellarator operating in its first phase with up to 600 kW of ECH power. Two mobile poloidal limiters can control the last closed magnetic surface (LCMS) and diagnose the plasma boundary with a set of Langmuir probes and with CCD-cameras equipped with interference filters. In the described experiments, plasmas with different minor radii interact either with the toroidal limiter or with the mobile poloidal limiters. The electron density and temperature profiles are characterised in the plasma centre, boundary and scape-off layer (SOL) for the different configurations. The global energy for the different configurations is compared and the ratio of the energy confinement time to that obtained by the LHD-scaling-law, seem to be improved when inserting the poloidal limiters. Finally, it is discussed whether the large connection lengths obtained in certain poloidal limiter SOL regions effectively reduce the plasma size, making the definition of the plasma minor radius ambiguous.