Observations of Improved Stability and Confinement in a High-{beta} Self-Organized Spherical-Torus-Like Field-Reversed Configuration
- Redmond Plasma Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195 (United States)
An extremely high-{beta} (over 85%) self-organized field-reversed configuration (FRC) with a spherical-torus- (ST-)like core is produced in the translation, confinement, and sustainment experiment by highly super-Alfvenic translation of a spheromaklike plasmoid. Substantial flux conversion from toroidal into poloidal occurs during the capture process, resulting in the ST-like core. This plasma state exhibits a remarkable stabilizing property for the ubiquitous n=2 centrifugally driven interchange modes present in {theta}-pinch formed FRCs. This is explained, for the first time, by a simple model taking into account magnetic shear and centrifugal effects. The FRC-ST configuration has up to 4 times improvement in flux confinement times over the scaling of conventional {theta}-pinch formed FRCs and, thus, a significant improvement in the resistivity and transport.
- OSTI ID:
- 20699474
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review Letters, Vol. 95, Issue 17; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.175001; (c) 2005 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0031-9007
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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