A. Gondhalekar

Bulk ion heating with ICRH in JET DT plasmas

Reactor relevant ICRH scenarios have been assessed during DT experiments on the JET tokamak using H mode divertor discharges with ITER-like shapes and safety factors. Deuterium minority heating in tritium plasmas was demonstrated for the first time. For 9% deuterium, an ICRH power of 6 MW gave 1.66 MW of fusion power from reactions between suprathermal deuterons and thermal tritons. The Q value of the steady state discharge reached 0.22 for the length of the RF flat-top (2.7 s), corresponding to three plasma energy replacement times. The Doppler broadened neutron spectrum showed a deuteron energy of 125 keV, which was optimum for fusion and close to the critical energy. Thus, strong bulk ion heating was obtained at the same time as high fusion efficiency. Deuterium fractions around 20% produced the strongest ion heating together with a strong reduction of the suprathermal deuteron tail. The ELMs had low amplitude and high frequency and each ELM transported less plasma energy content than the 1% required by ITER. The energy confinement time, on the ITERH97-P scale, was 0.90, which is sufficient for ignition in ITER. 3He minority heating, in approximately 50:50 D:T plasmas with up to 10% 3He, also demonstrated strong bulk ion heating. Central ion temperatures up to 13 keV were achieved, together with central electron temperatures up to 12 keV. The normalized H mode confinement time was 0.95. Second harmonic tritium heating produced energetic tritons above the critical energy. This scheme heats the electrons in JET, unlike in ITER where the lower power density will allow mainly ion heating. The inverted scenario of tritium minority ICRH in a deuterium plasma was demonstrated as a successful heating method producing both suprathermal neutrons and bulk ion heating. Theoretical calculations of the DT reactivity mostly give excellent agreement with the measured reaction rates.

Theoretical analysis of ICRF heating in JET DT plasmas

A number of experiments with heating of DT plasmas using ICRF waves have been carried out at JET. The results of these experiments have been analysed by comparing experimentally measured quantities with the results of numerical simulations. In particular, four scenarios have been examined: (a) heating of minority (~5-20%) deuterons at the fundamental ion cyclotron frequency, ω = ωcD; (b) second harmonic heating of tritium, ω = 2ωcT; (c) fundamental minority heating of 3He with a few per cent of 3He; (d) second harmonic heating of deuterium, ω = 2ωcD. An important aim of the analysis was to assess whether the present understanding of the ICRF physics is adequate for predicting the performance of ICRF in DT plasmas. In general, good agreement between experimental results and simulations was found which increases the confidence in predictions of the impact of ICRF heating in future reactors. However, when a relatively high deuterium concentration was used in the ω = ωcD scenario, discrepancies were observed. In order to increase confidence in the simulations, the sensitivity of the simulation results to various plasma parameters has been studied.

Localized bulk electron heating with ICRF mode conversion in the JET tokamak

Ion cyclotron resonance frequencies (ICRF) mode conversion has been developed for localized on-axis and off-axis bulk electron heating on the JET tokamak. The fast magnetosonic waves launched from the low-field side ICRF antennas are mode-converted to short-wavelength waves on the high-field side of the 3He ion cyclotron resonance layer in D and 4He plasmas and subsequently damped on the bulk electrons. The resulting electron power deposition, measured using ICRF power modulation, is narrow with a typical full-width at half-maximum of ?30?cm (i.e. about 30% of the minor radius) and the total deposited power to electrons comprises at least up to 80% of the applied ICRF power. The ICRF mode conversion power deposition has been kept constant using 3He bleed throughout the ICRF phase with a typical duration of 4?6?s, i.e. 15?40 energy confinement times. Using waves propagating in the counter-current direction minimizes competing ion damping in the presence of co-injected deuterium beam ions.

ICRF Heating of JET Plasmas with the Third-Harmonic Deuterium Resonance

Ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF) heating experiments with the third harmonic deuterium resonance in the plasma centre have been carried out at JET. These experiments were the first to demonstrate third harmonic damping on initially Maxwellian plasmas. A record deuterium-deuterium (DD) fusion reaction rate for ICRF-only heating on JET was achieved. The discharges have been simulated with the PION code (a self-consistent calculation of the evolution of the distribution function and the ICRF power deposition). To obtain reasonable agreement between the measurements and the simulations, three additions to the PION code were necessary: (a) parasitic absorption at the plasma edge, (b) a particle loss term that removes particles above 4 MeV, i.e. the particles that were not confined in the discharges, and (c) a sawtooth model that accounts in a simplified way for the redistribution of fast ions at the sawtooth crashes. According to the simulations, high energy tail formation on the distribution function of the resonating ions plays a crucial role in the power absorption.

Effects of enhanced toroidal field ripple on JET plasmas

The JET machine is equipped with 32 toroidal field coils. In order to study the effect of TF ripple on the confinement of fast particles and, more generally, on the plasma behaviour, a series of experiments was performed using only 16 TF coils. At the position of the outer limiter, this led to an increase of the ripple, delta =(Bmax-Bmin)/(Bmax+Bmin), from 1% to 12.5%. The toroidal field was limited to 1.4 T, with plasma currents in the range between 2 and 3 MA. Additional heating power-levels and energy-input were kept low in order to avoid possible damage to some first wall components made out of Inconel. Experiments were carried out using 140 keV NBI injected deuterons, ICRF accelerated protons and deuterons ( approximately 0.5 to approximately 2 MeV) and 1 MeV tritons from DD reactions.

First observation of pT fusion in JET tritium plasmas with ICRF heating of protons

High power ICRF heating of a hydrogen minority ion species in JET tritium plasmas has generated a total neutron rate that is about 40% larger than the 14 MeV neutron rate originating from fusion reactions between bulk tritium ions and deuterium minority ions. The T(p,n)3He fusion reaction, caused by ICRF accelerated protons, is identified as a source for producing the excess neutron emission. This reaction is endothermic and has a proton energy threshold of about 1 MeV and a peak cross-section at about 3.0 MeV. The presence of protons with such high energies is detected in gamma ray and high energy neutral particle analyser measurements and is also confirmed by ICRF modelling with the PION code. The fast proton energy content and the pT fusion reactivity as simulated by the PION code are compared with the experimental measurements when classical slowing down and confinement of ICRF accelerated protons are assumed in the simulations.

A new type of MHD activity in JET ICRF-only discharges with high fast-ion energy contents

The question of sawtooth stabilization at very high fast-ion energy contents has been addressed in discharges carried out in the JET tokamak with ion cyclotron resonance frequency (ICRF) heating and varying plasma density, controlled by deuterium gas puffs. In these experiments dramatic differences in the sawtooth behaviour have been observed. When the plasma density ne decreases below a certain threshold, the sawtooth frequency and the crash duration time increase by a factor of five. Since the fast-ion energy content increases with decreasing ne due to the inverse proportionality of the fast-ion slowing-down time on ne, the threshold in ne corresponds to a threshold in the fast-ion energy content. In the present experiments, this threshold is reached when the fast-ion energy contribution to the total plasma diamagnetic energy content becomes larger than 45%. The sawtooth activity with short sawtooth free period is accompanied by MHD activity, with a toroidal mode number n = 1 at frequencies between 55 and 65 kHz. This activity is interpreted as an energetic particle fishbone mode that is resonant with the ICRF-driven fast ions. The experimental results appear to be consistent with the stability diagram for sawtooth and fishbone modes (White 1989 Theory of Tokamak Plasmas (Amsterdam: North-Holland)), exploring the part of the diagram with a very large fast-ion population.

Fast particle diagnostics at JET: status and plans

A comprehensive set of fast particle diagnostics is routinely used at JET. Some are in the process of being upgraded and others, completely new, are being prepared for use during the forthcoming tritium experiments. For fusion product studies, the strength and profile of the charged particle birth distribution is obtained by measuring the neutron emission with three pairs of absolutely calibrated fission chambers and a two-camera profile monitor. Information on the DD neutron energy spectrum is deduced from a time-of-flight neutron spectrometer. Neutrons of 14 MeV energy from triton burnup are measured using silicon diodes and a high energy branch of the profile monitor. Absolute calibration is obtained with an activation system. A prototype lost alpha particle detector (Faraday cup) has been tested in the laboratory and has been installed inside JET so that its noise immunity can be tested. Two 14 MeV neutron spectrometers are under commissioning and a third is under construction. A high energy neutral particle analyser is routinely used to diagnose fast RF driven particles and will also be available for alpha particle studies. The intensity of RF driven fast particles is also deduced by the spectroscopy of gamma rays emitted in reactions with impurity ions in the plasma. The gamma ray measuring branch of the neutron profile monitor adds spatial resolution to the measurement. A new antenna for measuring ion cyclotron emission (ICE) and a gyrotron for alpha particle scattering experiments are in the process of being commissioned. Active charge exchange spectroscopy to investigate the low energy range of the alpha particle population is being considered. Where appropriate, information gathered with these systems is presented to illustrate their performance

Analysis of ion cyclotron heating and current drive at ω≈2ωcH for sawtooth control in JET plasmas

Ion cyclotron heating and current drive at ω≈2ωcH in JET deuterium plasmas with a hydrogen concentration nH/(nD+nH) in the range of 5–15% are analysed, comparing results of numerical computer modelling with experiments. Second harmonic hydrogen damping is found to be maximized by placing the resonance on the low-field side (LFS) of the torus, which minimizes competing direct electron damping and parasitic high-harmonic D damping in the presence of D beams. The shape of the calculated current perturbation and the radial localization of the heating power density for the LFS resonance are consistent with the experimentally observed evolution of the sawtooth period when the resonance layer moves near the q = 1 surface. Since the calculated driven current is dominated by a current of diamagnetic type caused by finite orbit widths of trapped resonating ions, it is not too sensitive to the ICRF phasing. Control of sawteeth with ion cyclotron current drive using the LFS ω≈2ωcH resonance in the present experimental conditions can thus be best obtained by varying the resonance location rather than the ICRF phasing. Due to differences in fast ion orbits, collisional electron heating and fast ion pressure profiles are significantly more peaked for a LFS resonance than for a high-field side (HFS) resonance. For the HFS ω≈2ωcH resonance, an enhanced neutron rate is observed in the presence of D beam ions, which is consistent with parasitic D damping at the ω≈5ωcD resonance in the plasma centre.

Evidence for regions of nearly suppressed velocity space diffusion caused by finite Larmor radius effects during ICRF heating

During high power ICRF heating, the distribution function of the resonating ions becomes non-Maxwellian and an anisotropic tail develops mainly in the perpendicular velocity direction. The evolution of the distribution function can be described by a quasi-linear diffusion operator in phase space. Owing to finite Larmor radius (FLR) effects, the diffusion coefficient in this operator varies with the gyro-radius normalized to the wavelength. At certain ion energies the diffusion coefficient can become strongly reduced, effectively preventing resonating ions from reaching higher energies. Measurements are reported which show a significant difference in the distribution function between different scenarios for heating of hydrogen ions in JET. Comparison with theoretical calculations shows that these differences can be explained by higher order FLR effects on velocity space diffusion during ICRF heating. The importance of these effects on the power deposition is also emphasized.