Formation Of Transport Barrier Research Articles

Anomalous fast ion losses at high β on the tokamak fusion test reactor

This paper describes experiments carried out on the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) [R. J. Hawryluk et al., Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 33, 1509 (1991)] to investigate the dependence of β-limiting disruption characteristics on toroidal field strength. The hard disruptions found at the β-limit in high field plasmas were not found at low field, even for β's 50% higher than the empirical β-limit of βn ≈ 2 at high field. Comparisons of experimentally measured β's to TRANSP simulations suggest anomalous loss of up to half of the beam fast ions in the highest β, low field shots. The anomalous transport responsible for the fast ion losses may at the same time broaden the pressure profile. Toroidal Alfvén eigenmodes, fishbone instabilities, and Geodesic Acoustic Modes are investigated as possible causes of the enhanced losses. Here, we present the first observations of high frequency fishbones [F. Zonca et al., Nucl. Fusion 49, 085009 (2009)] on TFTR. The interpretation of Axi-symmetric Beam-driven Modes as Geodesic Acoustic Modes and their possible correlation with transport barrier formation are also presented.

Internal transport barrier triggered by non-linear lower hybrid wave deposition under condition of beam-driven toroidal rotation

By using gyro-Landau fluid transport model (GLF23), time-dependent integrated modeling is carried out using TRANSP to explore the dynamic process of internal transport barrier (ITB) formation in the neutral beam heating discharges. When the current profile is controlled by LHCD (lower hybrid current drive), with appropriate neutral beam injection, the nonlinear interplay between the transport determined gradients in the plasma temperature (Ti,e) and toroidal velocity (Vϕ) and the E×B flow shear (including q-profile) produces transport bifurcations, generating spontaneously a stepwise growing ITB. In the discharge, the constraints imposed by the wave propagation condition causes interplay of the LH driven current distribution with the plasma configuration modification, which constitutes non-linearity in the LH wave deposition. The non-linear effects cause bifurcation in LHCD, generating two distinct quasi-stationary reversed magnetic shear configurations. The change of current profile during the transition period between the two quasi-stationary states results in increase of the E×B shearing flow arising from toroidal rotation. The turbulence transport suppression by sheared E×B flow during the ITB development is analysed, and the temporal evolution of some parameters characterized the plasma confinement is examined. Ample evidence shows that onset of the ITB development is correlated with the enhancement of E×B shearing rate caused by the bifurcation in LHCD. It is suggested that the ITB triggering is associated with the non-linear effects of the LH power deposition.

On the short circuit resilience of organic solar cells: prediction and validation.

PSS-lithium fluoride/aluminum (LiF/Al) shunting junctions we show that this prerequisite is already met by applying a sufficiently thick (>1.5 nm) LiF layer. We demonstrate that this remarkable shunt-resilience stems from the formation of a significant charge transport barrier at the PSS-LiF/Al interface. We validate our predictions by fabricating devices with deliberately severed photoactive layers and find an excellent agreement between the calculated and experimental current-voltage characteristics.

17aCN-9 LHDにおける内部輸送障壁形成時の電子温度勾配及び熱輸送の解析

17aCN-9 LHDにおける内部輸送障壁形成時の電子温度勾配及び熱輸送の解析

APTWG: The 4th Asia-Pacific Transport Working Group Meeting

This conference report summarizes the contributions to, and discussions at, the 4th Asia-Pacific Transport Working Group Meeting held at Kyushu University, Japan, during 10–13 June 2014. The topics of the meeting were organized under five main headings: turbulence suppression and transport barrier formation, effect of magnetic topology on MHD activity and transport, non-diffusive contribution of momentum and particle transport, non-local transport and turbulence spreading and coupling, energetic particles and instability. The Young Researchers' Forum which was held in this meeting is also described in this report.

Boundary condition for toroidal plasma flow imposed at the separatrix in high confinement JT-60U plasmas with edge localized modes and the physics process in pedestal structure formation

Modulation charge eXchange recombination spectroscopy measurements with high spatial and temporal resolution have made the evaluation of the toroidal plasma flow of fully stripped carbon impurity ions (VϕC6+) in the JT-60U tokamak peripheral region (including, in particular, the separatrix) possible with a better signal-to-noise ratio. By comparing co- and counter-neutral beam injection discharges experimentally, we have identified the boundary condition of VϕC6+ and radial electric field shear (∇Er) imposed at the separatrix in high confinement (H-mode) plasmas with edge localized modes (ELMs). The VϕC6+ value at the separatrix is not fixed at zero but varies with the momentum input direction. On the other hand, the ∇Er value is nearly zero (or very weakly positive) at the separatrix. Furthermore, the edge localized mode perturbation does not appear to affect both VϕC6+ and ∇Er values at the separatrix as strongly as that in the pedestal region. The above experimental findings based on the precise edge measurements have been used to validate a theoretical model and develop a new empirical model. A better understanding of the physical process in the edge transport barrier (ETB) formation due to the sheared Er formation is also discussed.

The electron density profile measurement with a fast time-resolution in the KSTAR tokamak

A frequency-modulation reflectometer is installed in the KSTAR tokamak to measure the plasma density profile. The reflectometer operates in the frequency range of 32.3–107.3 GHz. A plasma density up to 7 × 1019 m−3 can be measured when the toroidal magnetic field is 2 T. The reflectometer measures the electron density profile with a time resolution of 25 μs for 0.16 s. This fast time-resolution is essential for the study of the transport barrier formation during the L-H transition. In this paper, the measured time evolutions of the sawtooth oscillation, the density increase due to supersonic molecular beam injection (SMBI), and the pedestal relaxation due to an edge-localized mode (ELM) are presented. The spatial profile of slow fluctuations (< 10 kHz) may be extracted from these fast profile measurements. In addition, the dependences of the pedestal structure, such as its width and height, on the plasma parameters are characterized.

Turbulence elasticity—A new mechanism for transport barrier dynamics

We present a new, unified model of transport barrier formation in “elastic” drift wave-zonal flow (DW-ZF) turbulence. A new physical quantity—the delay time (i.e., the mixing time for the DW turbulence)—is demonstrated to parameterize each stage of the transport barrier formation. Quantitative predictions for the onset of limit-cycle-oscillation (LCO) among DW and ZF intensities (also denoted as I-mode) and I-mode to high-confinement mode (H-mode) transition are also given. The LCO occurs when the ZF shearing rate (|〈v〉ZF′|) enters the regime Δωk&amp;lt;|〈V〉ZF′|&amp;lt;τcr−1, where Δωk is the local turbulence decorrelation rate and τcr is the threshold delay time. In the basic predator-prey feedback system, τcr is also derived. The I-H transition occurs when |〈V〉E×B′|&amp;gt;τcr−1, where the mean E × B shear flow driven by ion pressure “locks” the DW-ZF system to the H-mode by reducing the delay time below the threshold value.

Self-organized 3D equilibrium formation and its feedback control in RFX-mod

The reversed-field pinch exhibits a strong tendency to self-organize into a helical equilibrium as the plasma current is increased. The helical reversed-field pinch is characterized by reduced magnetic stochasticity and by the formation of electron internal transport barriers. The paper gives an update on recent experimental and modelling work on helical states in RFX-mod (Sonato et al 2003 Fusion Eng. Des. 66 161), also discussing similarities with 3D equilibria in tokamaks. The helical equilibrium is modelled with 3D codes developed for stellarators, such as VMEC/V3FIT. The reconstructed safety factor profile has low or reversed magnetic shear in the core, which may be related to transport barrier formation. A significant extension of the RFX-mod database to high current and density confirms the dependence observed before of various helical state properties on macroscopic quantities. Even under conditions where it does not form spontaneously, such as at low current or high density, the 3D magnetic equilibrium can be stimulated and robustly controlled with external fields applied by an extensive set of non axi-symmetric coils. An advanced magnetic feedback algorithm that compensates for error fields induced by eddy currents in the 3D wall structures has been developed. This work stimulated similar experiments in RFX-mod run as a tokamak, where external 3D fields are applied to control a m = 1/n = 1 helical equilibrium.

The role of zonal flows and predator–prey oscillations in triggering the formation of edge and core transport barriers

We present direct evidence of low frequency, radially sheared, turbulence-driven flows (zonal flows (ZFs)) triggering edge transport barrier formation preceding the L- to H-mode transition via periodic turbulence suppression in limit-cycle oscillations (LCOs), consistent with predator–prey dynamics. The final transition to edge-localized mode-free H-mode occurs after the equilibrium E × B flow shear increases due to ion pressure profile evolution. ZFs are also observed to initiate formation of an electron internal transport barrier (ITB) at the q = 2 rational surface via local suppression of electron-scale turbulence. Multi-channel Doppler backscattering (DBS) has revealed the radial structure of the ZF-induced shear layer and the E × B shearing rate, ωE×B, in both barrier types. During edge barrier formation, the shearing rate lags the turbulence envelope during the LCO by 90°, transitioning to anti-correlation (180°) when the equilibrium shear dominates the turbulence-driven flow shear due to the increasing edge pressure gradient. The time-dependent flow shear and the turbulence envelope are anti-correlated (180° out of phase) in the electron ITB. LCOs with time-reversed evolution dynamics (transitioning from an equilibrium-flow dominated to a ZF-dominated state) have also been observed during the H–L back-transition and are potentially of interest for controlled ramp-down of the plasma stored energy and pressure (normalized to the poloidal magnetic field) in ITER.

The 3rd Asia–Pacific Transport Working Group (APTWG) Meeting

This conference report summarizes the contributions to and discussions at the 3rd Asia–Pacific Transport Working Group (APTWG) meeting held in Jeju-island, Korea, on 21–24 May 2013. The main objective of the meeting is to develop a predictive understanding of transport mechanisms in magnetically confined fusion plasmas. In an effort to accomplish this objective, four technical working groups were organized under the headings: (1) transport barrier formation and confinement enhancement, (2) 3D effects and Magnetohydrodynamic–turbulence interaction, (3) momentum transport and non-locality and (4) particle/impurity transport and energetic particles.

Publisher's Note: “Momentum transport in the vicinity of q min in reverse shear tokamaks due to ion temperature gradient turbulence” [Phys. Plasmas 21, 012302 (2014)

Publisher's Note: “Momentum transport in the vicinity of <i>q</i> <i>min</i> in reverse shear tokamaks due to ion temperature gradient turbulence” [Phys. Plasmas 21, 012302 (2014)

L–H power threshold studies in JET with Be/W and C wall

A comparison of the L–H power threshold (Pthr) in JET with all carbon, JET-C, and beryllium/tungsten wall (the ITER-like choice), JET-ILW, has been carried out in experiments with slow input power ramps and matched plasma shapes, divertor configuration and IP/BT pairs. The low density dependence of the L–H power threshold, namely an increase below a minimum density ne,min, which was first observed in JET with the MkII-GB divertor and C wall and subsequently not observed with the current MkII-HD geometry, is observed again with JET-ILW. At plasma densities above ne,min, Pthr is reduced by ∼30%, and by ∼40% when the radiation from the bulk plasma is subtracted (Psep), with JET-ILW compared to JET-C. At the L–H transition the electron temperature at the edge, where the pedestal later develops, is also lower with JET-ILW, for a given edge density. With JET-ILW the minimum density is found to increase roughly linearly with magnetic field, , while the power threshold at the minimum density scales as . The H-mode power threshold in JET-ILW is found to be sensitive both to variations in main plasma shape (Psep decreases with increasing lower triangularity and increases with upper triangularity) and in divertor configuration. When the data are recast in terms of Psep and Zeff or subdivertor neutral pressure a linear correlation is found, pointing to a possible role of Zeff and/or subdivertor neutral pressure in the L–H transition physics. Depending on the chosen divertor configuration, Pthr can be up to a factor of two lower than the ITPA scaling law for densities above ne,min. A shallow edge radial electric field well is observed at the L–H transition. The edge impurity ion poloidal velocity remains low, close to its L-mode values, ⩽5 km s−1 ± 2–3 km s−1, at the L–H transition and throughout the H-mode phase, with no measureable increase within the experimental uncertainties. The edge toroidal rotation profile does not contribute to the depth of the negative Er well and thus may not be correlated with the formation of the edge transport barrier in JET.

Effect of Density Control and Impurity Transport on Internal Transport Barrier Formation in Tokamak Plasma

Effect of Density Control and Impurity Transport on Internal Transport Barrier Formation in Tokamak Plasma

Momentum transport in the vicinity of qmin in reverse shear tokamaks due to ion temperature gradient turbulence

We present an analytic study of momentum transport of tokamak plasmas in the vicinity of minimum safety factor (q) position in reversed magnetic shear configuration. Slab ion temperature gradient modes with an equilibrium flow profile are considered in this study. Quasi-linear calculations of momentum flux clearly show the novel effects of q-curvature on the generation of intrinsic rotation and mean poloidal flow without invoking reflectional symmetry breaking of parallel wavenumber (k∥). This q-curvature effect originates from the inherent asymmetry in k∥ populations with respect to a rational surface due to the quadratic proportionality of k∥ when q-curvature is taken into account. Discussions are made of possible implications of q-curvature induced plasma flows on internal transport barrier formation in reversed shear tokamaks.

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Plasma Confinement Modification in IR-T1 Tokamak by Velocity Shear Stabilization

E × B velocity shear effects on the plasma confinement were investigated in the IR-T1 tokamak. The investigations have been done at the presence of external applied electric and Resonant Helical magnetic Fields (RHF). In this work, experimental data have been measured by using two arrays of the Langmuir probes in both the radial and poloidal directions. A velocity shear stabilization mechanism has also been proposed to be responsible for an improvement in plasma confinement. The results show that Er × B drift velocity (VE×B) reduces about 90 % due to applied biasing and RHF at edge plasma. We have also observed that positive biasing and RHF lead to a significant decrease (>80 %) for radial turbulent transport (ΓE×B) at edge plasma. In this paper, the electrostatic Reynolds stress (Rs) and the shearing rate γE×B have been calculated. We have also compared the Rs and γE×B at presence of the biasing and RHF and without biasing and RHF. A good correlation between confinement modifications and Er × B velocity shear has been found suggesting that confinement enhancement originates at the edge plasma as a consequence of the formation of a particle transport barrier just inside the limiter.

Formation of an internal transport barrier and magnetohydrodynamic activity in experiments with the controlled density of rational magnetic surfaces in the T-10 Tokamak

Results are presented from experiments on the formation of an internal electron transport barrier near the q = 1.5 rational surface in the T-10 tokamak. The experiments were carried out in the regime with off-axis electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) heating followed by a fast plasma current ramp-up. After suppressing sawtooth oscillations by off-axis ECR heating, an internal transport barrier began to form near the q = 1.5 rational surface. In the phase of the current ramp-up, the quality of the transport barrier improved; as a result, the plasma energy confinement time increased 2–2.5 times. The intentionally produced flattening of the profile of the safety factor q(r) insignificantly affected magnetohydrodynamic activity in the plasma column in spite of the theoretical possibility of formation of substantial m/n = 3/2 and 2/1 magnetic islands. Conditions are discussed under which the flattening of the profile of the safety factor q near low-order rational surfaces leads to the formation of either an internal transport barrier or the development of an island magnetic structure induced by tearing modes.

Observation of ELM-free H-mode in the HL-2A tokamak

For the first time, edge-localized mode (ELM)-free H-mode was realized in the HL-2A tokamak by using electron cyclotron resonance heating and co-current neutral beam injection (NBI) heating. This ELM-free H-mode is associated with the formation of edge particle transport barrier, an increase in density peaking and a significant decrease in edge turbulence. During the stationary ELM-free phase, an edge magnetohydrodynamic mode is identified, which has similar characteristics to an edge harmonic oscillation (EHO), as observed in other tokamaks. This EHO-like mode enhances edge particle transport, and propagates poloidally in the electron diamagnetic drift direction and toroidally in the same direction as the plasma current and NBI. A detailed analysis of this mode and the EHO–ELM transition is presented in this paper.

Minimally Constrained Model of Self-Organized Helical States in Reversed-Field Pinches

We show that the self-organized single-helical-axis (SHAx) and double-axis (DAx) states in reversed field pinches can be reproduced in a minimally constrained equilibrium model using only five parameters. This is a significant reduction on previous representations of the SHAx which have required an infinite number of constraints. The DAx state, which has a nontrivial topology, has not previously been reproduced using an equilibrium model that preserves this topological structure. We show that both states are a consequence of transport barrier formation in the plasma core, in agreement with experimental results. We take the limit of zero pressure in this work, although the model is also valid for finite pressure.

Reversal of Intrinsic Torque Associated with the Formation of an Internal Transport Barrier

A reversal of intrinsic torque is observed during the formation of an internal transport barrier (ITB) in the Large Helical Device. The intrinsic torque evaluated from the disparity of rotation between coinjection and counterinjection changes sign from counter to codirection inside the ITB after the ITB formation. Both the internal transport barrier and the reversal of the intrinsic torque propagate inwards. This experiment demonstrates that the sign of the nondiffusive term of momentum transport is sensitive to the confinement mode of heat transport.