Production of internal transport barriers via self-generated mean flows in Alcator C-Mod

Journal Article · Tue May 15 04:00:00 EDT 2012 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3694668· OSTI ID:22072391

Fiore, C L; Ernst, D R; Podpaly, Y A; Howard, N T; Lee, Jungpyo; Reinke, M L; Rice, J E; Hughes, J W; Ma, Y ^[1]; Mikkelsen, D ^[2]; Rowan, W L; Bespamyatnov, I ^[3]

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1. MIT-PSFC, 77 Mass. Ave., Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 (United States)
2. Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, P.O. Box 451, Princeton, New Jersey 08543-0451 (United States)
3. FRC, U of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712 (United States)

New results suggest that changes observed in the intrinsic toroidal rotation influence the internal transport barrier (ITB) formation in the Alcator C-Mod tokamak [E. S. Marmar and Alcator C-Mod group, Fusion Sci. Technol. 51, 261 (2007)]. These arise when the resonance for ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF) minority heating is positioned off-axis at or outside of the plasma half-radius. These ITBs form in a reactor relevant regime, without particle or momentum injection, with Ti Almost-Equal-To Te, and with monotonic q profiles (q{sub min} < 1). C-Mod H-mode plasmas exhibit strong intrinsic co-current rotation that increases with increasing stored energy without external drive. When the resonance position is moved off-axis, the rotation decreases in the center of the plasma resulting in a radial toroidal rotation profile with a central well which deepens and moves farther off-axis when the ICRF resonance location reaches the plasma half-radius. This profile results in strong E Multiplication-Sign B shear (>1.5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 5} rad/s) in the region where the ITB foot is observed. Gyrokinetic analyses indicate that this spontaneous shearing rate is comparable to the linear ion temperature gradient (ITG) growth rate at the ITB location and is sufficient to reduce the turbulent particle and energy transport. New and detailed measurement of the ion temperature demonstrates that the radial profile flattens as the ICRF resonance position moves off axis, decreasing the drive for the ITG the instability as well. These results are the first evidence that intrinsic rotation can affect confinement in ITB plasmas.

• OSTI ID: 22072391
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 19; ISSN PHPAEN; ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ALCATOR DEVICE
CYCLOTRONS
H-MODE PLASMA CONFINEMENT
ICR HEATING
ION CYCLOTRON-RESONANCE
ION TEMPERATURE
PLASMA
TEMPERATURE GRADIENTS