Progress Towards Confinement Improvement Using Current Profile Modifications in the MST Reversed Field Pinch
Recent current profile modification experiments on the MST reversed field pinch have resulted in improved and elucidated the role of the current profile in determining confinement. During transient experiments in which the current profile is modified inductively, new profile measurements show that both the electron thermal diffusivity and particle diffusivity can decrease by more than an order of magnitude compared to standard plasmas. Concurrent with this improvement in energy confinement, density fluctuations associated with core-resonant tearing modes (poloidal mode number m=0) are shown to affect confinement and are controllable by current drive in the extreme plasma edge-indicating the significance of edge modes in addition to the core-resonant m=1 modes. Finally, experiments are underway to demonstrate new non-inductive current profile control techniques using lower hybrid waves and electron Bernstein waves.
- Research Organization:
- University of Wisconsin-Madison (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Research (ER) (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG02-96ER54345
- OSTI ID:
- 783574
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/ER54345-340; TRN: US0108352
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 4 Oct 2000
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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