D.F. Kong

Overview of experimental results on the HL-2A tokamak

The physics experiments on the HL-2A tokamak have been focused on confinement improvement, particle and thermal transport, zonal flow and turbulence, filament characteristics, energetic particle induced modes and plasma fuelling efficiency since 2008. ELMy H-mode discharges are achieved in a lower density regime using a combination of NBI heating with ECRH. The power threshold is found to increase with a decrease in density, almost independent of the launching order of the ECRH and NBI heating power. The pedestal density profiles in the H-mode discharges are measured. The particle outward convection is observed during the pump-out transient phase with ECRH. The negative density perturbation (pump-out) is observed to propagate much faster than the positive one caused by out-gassing. The core electron thermal transport reduction triggered by far off-axis ECRH switch-off is investigated. The coexistence of low frequency zonal flow (LFZF) and geodesic acoustic mode (GAM) is observed. The dependence of the intensities of LFZFs and GAMs on the safety factor and ECRH power is identified. The 3D spatial structures of plasma filaments are measured in the boundary plasma and large-scale structures along a magnetic field line analysed for the first time. The beta-induced Alfven eigenmodes (BAEs), excited by large magnetic islands (m-BAE) and by energetic electrons (e-BAE), are observed. The results for the study of fuelling efficiency and penetration characteristics of supersonic molecular beam injection (SMBI) are described.

Turbulence and zonal flows in edge plasmas of the HL-2A tokamak

Measurements with a toroidally and poloidally displaced three-dimensional set of Langmuir probe arrays have revealed details of turbulence, geodesic acoustic modes (GAMs), zonal flows and their interactions in the edge region of HL-2A tokamak plasmas. The coexistence of intensive low frequency zonal flows (LFZFs) of f < 4 kHz and the GAMs of 7 kHz < fGAM < 20 kHz has been unambiguously demonstrated. The poloidal and toroidal symmetries of the flows, including the GAMs, are verified experimentally. In particular, the coherency of the flows over a large toroidal scale of 2100 mm at a magnetic flux surface is emphasized. The LFZF packets are shown to propagate outward and inward as equally likely events, whereas the predominantly outward propagation of the GAM packets is analyzed. The nonlinear three-wave coupling of the flows with ambient turbulence is shown with a bicoherency analysis and an envelope modulation of the latter by the former. The intensity of the LFZFs is observed to increase and decrease with increases in ECRH power (~300–700 kW) and safety factor q ~ (3.5–6.2), respectively, whereas the intensity of the GAMs increases with increases in both ECRH power and q.

Observation of nonlinear couplings between coexisting kinetic geodesic acoustic modes in the edge plasmas of the HT-7 tokamak

Coexisting multi-geodesic acoustic modes (GAMs), especially coexisting dual GAMs, are observed and studied through Langmuir probe arrays at the edge plasmas of the HT-7 tokamak with lithium-coated walls. The dual GAMs are named a low-frequency GAM (LFGAM) and a high-frequency GAM (HFGAM), and it is found that within the measuring range, the HFGAM propagates outwards while the LFGAM propagates both inwards and outwards with their central frequencies nearly unchanged, and both modes have maximum amplitudes at positions with radial wavenumbers close to zero; meanwhile, the two positions happen to be where the continuum GAM frequency is closest to the central frequencies of the LFGAM and the HFGAM. These characteristics are consistent with those of a kinetic GAM converted from a continuum GAM. The nonlinear couplings between the LFGAM and the HFGAM are also analysed. In this study, we observed not only the interaction between the LFGAM and the HFGAM, but also the self-coupling of the GAM with the beat frequency between them, as well as the coupling between the LFGAM and an unknown mode at ?50?kHz. These nonlinear interactions may play important roles during the saturation process of GAMs. Additionally, amplitude correlation analyses of multi-GAMs indicate that second harmonic GAMs are probably generated from the self-interaction of fundamental GAMs.

Spectral characteristics of zonal flows in the edge plasmas of the HT-7 tokamak

The spectral characteristics of zonal flows, including both the geodesic acoustic mode (GAM) and the zero/low frequency zonal flow (LFZF), are investigated by applying the two-point correlation technique and bispectral analysis to the floating potential fluctuations measured by several Langmuir probe arrays on the HT-7 tokamak. The three-dimensional wavenumber and frequency spectra for the two modes have been estimated. The radial wavenumber spectra show that the LFZF packages propagate both outward and inward while the GAM packages propagate outward mostly. Nonlinear couplings betweeen zonal flows and ambient turbulence are observed in the biphase while the bicoherence at the GAM frequency is much larger than that at the LFZF frequency. A kind of mode with frequencies higher than that of GAM, which may also be generated from the ambient turbulence in a similar way as the zonal flows, is reported.

Two distinct regimes of turbulence in HL-2A tokamak plasmas

Two distinct regimes of turbulence are identified with Langmuir probe arrays in the edge plasmas of the HuanLiuqi (HL)-2A tokamak for the first time. The spatial and temporal coherent characteristics of the low frequency fluctuations (LFFs) of 20?100?kHz are found in significant contrast to the high frequency ambient turbulence (HFAT) of 100?kHz or higher. In the LFF regime, the deviations from the regular linear dispersion relations of the HFAT are observed. The poloidal and toroidal correlation lengths of the former are measured one order of magnitude longer than that of the latter. The ratio of the temporal scales of the fluctuations in the LFF and HFAT regimes is estimated to be of the same order as that for the spatial scales. The LFF may coexist with and differentiate from the geodesic acoustic modes. The bispectrum analysis of the data indicates that nonlinear three wave coupling between the LFF and HFAT is a possible creation mechanism for the former. The possible correlation of the results with the theory and simulation predictions on quasimodes is discussed.

Observations of the effect of lower hybrid waves on ELM behaviour in EAST

Dedicated experiments focusing on the influence of lower hybrid waves (LHWs) on edge-localized modes (ELMs) were first performed during the 2012 experimental campaign of EAST, via modulating the input power of LHWs in the high-confinement-mode (H-mode) plasma mainly sustained by ion cyclotron resonant heating. Natural ELMs are effectively mitigated (ELM frequency increases, while its intensity decreases dramatically) as the LHW is applied, observed over a fairly wide range of plasma current or edge safety factor. By scanning the modulation frequency (fm) of LHW injected power in a target plasma dominated by the so-called small ELMs, we conclude that large ELMs with markedly larger amplitudes and lower frequencies are reproduced at low modulation frequencies (fmxa0<xa0100xa0Hz). Analysis of the evolution of edge extreme ultraviolet radiation signals further indicates that plasma fluctuations at the pedestal region indistinctively respond to rapid modulation (fmxa0⩾xa0100xa0Hz) of LHW injected power. This is proposed as the mechanism responsible for the observed fm dependence of the mitigation effect induced by LHWs on large ELMs. In addition, a critical threshold of LHW input power PLHW is estimated as , beyond which the impact of applied LHWs on ELM behaviours can be achieved. Finally, Langmuir probe measurements suggest that, rather than the concentration of free energy into a narrowband quasi-coherent precursor commonly observed growing until the ELM crash, the continuous development of broadband turbulence during the ELM-absent phase with the application of LHWs might contribute to the avoidance of ELM crashes. These results present new insights into existing experiments, and also provide some foundations and references for the next-step research about exploring in more depth and improving this new attractive method to effectively control the ELM-induced very large transient heat and particle flux.

Experimental study of pedestal turbulence on EAST tokamak

Turbulence in the pedestal region of the EAST tokamak has been observed and studied using reflectometry. In lower hybrid wave (LHW) or neutral beam injection (NBI) dominated heating plasma, a coherent mode (CM) was usually observed in the ELM-free phase just after the L-H transition. The CM rotated in the electron diamagnetic drift (EDD) direction in the laboratory frame with a poloidal wave number (kθ) of 0.5 cm−1–0.7 cm−1 and its frequency usually chirped from 80 – 100 kHz down to 40 – 50 kHz as the pedestal evolved. The appearance of this mode reduced the increasing rate of pedestal pressure, implying that the CM may have an effect on outward pedestal transport. This mode can exist every ten milliseconds and is finally replaced by broadband (BB) fluctuation in the later ELM-free phase. It was found that the appearance and disappearance of the CM was correlated to the pedestal pressure. In the inter-ELM phase, the pedestal turbulence is generally dominated by BB fluctuation with poloidal wave numbers from 0 to 3 cm−1 rotating in the EDD direction in the laboratory frame. Analysis shows that the pedestal pressure increasing rate dpe, ped/dt decreases with the amplitude of the BB fluctuation, implying that the BB fluctuation may play an important role in pedestal evolution. The preliminary observation on the fluctuation just inside the pedestal top is also presented.

Observation of pedestal turbulence in edge localized mode-free H-mode on experimental advanced superconducting tokamak

Two different pedestal turbulence structures have been observed in edge localized mode-free phase of H-mode heated by lower hybrid wave and RF wave in ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF) on experimental advanced superconducting tokamak. When the fraction of ICRF power PICRF/Ptotal exceeds 0.7, coherent mode is observed. The mode is identified as an electromagnetic mode, rotating in electron diamagnetic direction with a frequency around 50 kHz and toroidal mode number nu2009=u2009−3. Whereas when PICRF/Ptotal is less than 0.7, harmonic mode with frequency fu2009=u200940–300 kHz appears instead. The characteristics of these two modes are demonstrated preliminarily. The threshold value of heating power and also the plasma parameters are distinct.

Evolutions of zonal flows and turbulence in a tokamak edge plasma during electron cyclotron resonance heating

Geodesic acoustic mode (GAM) and low-frequency zonal flow (LFZF) are both observed through Langmuir probe arrays during electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) on the HL-2A tokamak edge. The radial distributions of the amplitude and peak frequency of GAM in floating potential fluctuations are investigated through rake probe arrays under different ECRH powers. It is observed that the GAM frequency would decrease and the intensity of carbon line emission would increase as the ECRH power exceeds a certain threshold. The analyses suggest that the impurity ions may play an important role in the GAM frequency at the edge region. It is also found that during the ECRH phase besides the mean flow, both GAM and LFZF are strengthened. The total fluctuation power and the fraction of that power associated with zonal flows both increase with the ECRH power, consistent with a predator–prey model. The auto- and cross-bicoherence analyses show the coupling between GAM and its second harmonic during the ECRH phase. Moreover, the results also suggest that the couplings between GAM and the components with multiple GAM frequency are strengthened. These couplings may be important for GAM saturation during the ECRH phase.

Radial and poloidal correlation reflectometry on Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak.

An X-mode polarized V band (50 GHz-75 GHz) radial and poloidal correlation reflectometry is designed and installed on Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST). Two frequency synthesizers (12 GHz-19 GHz) are used as sources. Signals from the sources are up-converted to V band using active quadruplers and then coupled together for launching through one single pyramidal antenna. Two poloidally separated antennae are installed to receive the reflected waves from plasma. This reflectometry system can be used for radial and poloidal correlation measurement of the electron density fluctuation. In ohmically heated plasma, the radial correlation length is about 1.5 cm measured by the system. The poloidal correlation analysis provides a means to estimate the fluctuation velocity perpendicular to the main magnetic field. In the present paper, the distance between two poloidal probing points is calculated with ray-tracing code and the propagation time is deduced from cross-phase spectrum. Fluctuation velocity perpendicular to the main magnetic field in the core of ohmically heated plasma is about from -1 km/s to -3 km/s.