Ion cyclotron range of frequencies stabilization of sawteeth on Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor

Investigating the performance of an ion luminescence probe as a multichannel fast-ion energy spectrometer using pulse height analysis

We investigate the capability of a fast-ion luminescent probe to operate as a pulse height ion energy analyzer. An existing high sensitivity system has been reconfigured as a single channel ion detector with an amplifier to give a bandwidth comparable to the phosphor response time. A digital pulse processing method has been developed to determine pulse heights from the detector signal so as to obtain time-resolved information on the ion energy distribution of the plasma ions lost to the wall of the TJ-II stellarator. Finally, the potential of this approach for magnetic confined fusion plasmas is evaluated by studying representative TJ-II discharges.

Demonstration of effective control of fast-ion-stabilized sawteeth by electron-cyclotron current drive

In a tokamak plasma, sawtooth oscillations in the central temperature, caused by a magnetohydrodynamic instability, can be partially stabilized by fast ions. The resulting less frequent sawtooth crashes can trigger unwanted magnetohydrodynamic activity. This Letter reports on experiments showing that modest electron-cyclotron current drive power, with the deposition positioned by feedback control of the injection angle, can reliably shorten the sawtooth period in the presence of ions with energies >or=0.5 MeV. Certain surprising elements of the results are evaluated qualitatively in terms of existing theory.

Destabilization of fast-ion-induced long sawteeth by localized current drive in the JET tokamak

In a tokamak fusion reactor the energetic alpha particles will transiently stabilize the magnetohydrodynamic activity causing sawtooth oscillations. The crash events terminating long sawtooth free periods can provide seed islands for neoclassical tearing modes [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 105001 (2002)]]. To shorten the sawtooth periods localized current drive near the q=1 surface is a possibility. This Letter provides the first experimental evidence for the effectiveness of this method in the different physics regime associated with fast-ion-induced long sawteeth on the JET tokamak.

Sawtooth evolution during JET ion-cyclotron-resonance-heated pulses

The recent Joint European Torus deuterium-tritium campaign has yielded ion-cyclotron-resonance-heated (ICRH) pulses during which both the sawtooth characteristics and the ICRH minority ion population both evolve substantially. At multiple times during each pulse, the evolution of the kinetic-fluid MHD energy is calculated from measurement of the energetic ions and compared with the evolving sawtooth duration. There is strong correlation between sawtooth duration and minority ion stabilization of the ideal internal kink.