Edge transport and mode structure of a QCM-like fluctuation driven by the Shoelace antenna

Journal Article · Wed Mar 21 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · Nuclear Fusion

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/aab2c8· OSTI ID:1540535

Golfinopoulos, T. ; LaBombard, B. ; Brunner, D. ; Terry, J. L. ; Baek, S. G.; Ennever, P.; Edlund, E.; Han, W.; Burke, W. M.; Wolfe, S. M.; Irby, J. H.; Hughes, J. W. ; Fitzgerald, E. W.; Granetz, R. S.; Greenwald, M. J.; Leccacorvi, R.; Marmar, E. S.; Pierson, S. Z.; Porkolab, M.; Vieira, R. F. ; Wukitch, S. J.

The Shoelace antenna was built to drive edge fluctuations in the Alcator C-Mod tokamak, matching the wavenumber ($$k_{\perp}\approx1.5$$ cm^-1) and frequency ($$30\lesssim f \lesssim 200$$ kHz) of the quasi-coherent mode (QCM), which is responsible for regulating transport across the plasma boundary in the steady-state, ELM-free Enhanced Dα (EDA) H-mode. Initial experiments in 2012 demonstrated that the antenna drove a resonant response in the edge plasma in steady-state EDA and transient, non-ELMy H-modes, but transport measurements were unavailable. In 2016, the Shoelace antenna was relocated to enable direct measurements of driven transport by a reciprocating Mirror Langmuir Probe, while also making available gas puff imaging and reflectometer data to provide additional radial localization of the driven fluctuation. This new data suggests a ~4 mm-wide mode layer centered on or just outside the separatrix. Fluctuations coherent with the antenna produced a radial electron flux with $${\Gamma_e}/{n_e}\sim4$$ m s^-1 in EDA H-mode, smaller than but comparable to the QCM level. But in transient ELM-free H-mode, $${\Gamma_e}/{n_e}$$ was an order of magnitude smaller, and driven fluctuations reduced by a factor of $$\gtrsim$$ 3. The driven mode is quantitatively similar to the intrinsic QCM across measured spectral quantities, except that it is more coherent and weaker. This work informs the prospect of achieving control of edge transport by direct coupling to edge modes, as well as the use of such active coupling for diagnostic purposes.

• Research Organization: Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES)
• Contributing Organization: The Alcator C-Mod Team
• Grant/Contract Number: FC02-99ER54512; SC0014264
• OSTI ID: 1540535
• Journal Information: Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 58, Issue 5; ISSN 0029-5515
• Publisher: IOP Science
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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