skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Search for alpha-driven TAE modes at lowered ion temperature in TFTR DT discharges

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/206577· OSTI ID:206577

An experiment was performed in TFTR DT plasmas to attempt to destabilize the alpha particle driven Toroidicity-induced Alfven Eigenmode (TAE) by transiently cooling the ions, which should have lowered the ion Landau damping of the TAE modes. Transient cooling perturbations were made during the NBI heating phase of high powered DT supershots using He gas puffs or deuterium (D) or lithium (Li) pellet injection. The ion temperature was successfully lowered from T{sub i}(O) {approx} 20 keV to T{sub i}(O) {approx} 10 keV in about 0.2 sec; however, no signs of alpha-driven TAE modes were observed. Theoretical analyses of these discharges suggested that the alpha pressure required for TAE instability was about a factor of 2--3 greater than actually obtained in this experiment, consistent with the absence of alpha-driven TAE modes.

Research Organization:
Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC02-76CH03073
OSTI ID:
206577
Report Number(s):
PPPL-3154; ON: DE96007483; TRN: 96:009422
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: Jan 1996
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English