Edge radial electric field structure and its connections to H-mode confinement in Alcator C-Mod plasmas
- Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 175 Albany Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 (United States)
High-resolution charge-exchange recombination spectroscopic measurements of B{sup 5+} ions have enabled the first spatially resolved calculations of the radial electric field (E{sub r}) in the Alcator C-Mod pedestal region [E. S. Marmar, Fusion Sci. Technol. 51, 261 (2006)]. These observations offer new challenges for theory and simulation and provide for important comparisons with other devices. Qualitatively, the field structure observed on C-Mod is similar to that on other tokamaks. However, the narrow high-confinement mode (H-mode) E{sub r} well widths (5 mm) observed on C-Mod suggest a scaling with machine size, while the observed depths (up to 300 kV/m) are unprecedented. Due to the strong ion-electron thermal coupling in the C-Mod pedestal, it is possible to infer information about the main ion population in this region. The results indicate that in H-mode the main ion pressure gradient is the dominant contributor to the E{sub r} well and that the main ions have significant edge flow. C-Mod H-mode data show a clear correlation between deeper E{sub r} wells, higher confinement plasmas, and higher electron temperature pedestal heights. However, improved L-mode (I-mode) plasmas exhibit energy confinement equivalent to that observed in similar H-mode discharges, but with significantly shallower E{sub r} wells. I-mode plasmas are characterized by H-mode-like energy barriers, but with L-mode-like particle barriers. The decoupling of energy and particle barrier formation makes the I-mode an interesting regime for fusion research and provides for a low collisionality pedestal without edge localized modes.
- OSTI ID:
- 21277154
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 16, Issue 5; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3080721; (c) 2009 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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