Effect of Heating on the Suppression of Tearing Modes in Tokamaks

I. G. J. Classen, E. Westerhof, C. W. Domier, A. J. H. Donné, R. J. E. Jaspers, N. C. Luhmann, Jr., H. K. Park, M. J. van de Pol, G. W. Spakman, and M. W. Jakubowski (the TEXTOR team)

Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 035001 – Published 18 January 2007

Abstract

The suppression of (neoclassical) tearing modes is of great importance for the success of future fusion reactors like ITER. Electron cyclotron waves can suppress islands, both by driving noninductive current in the island region and by heating the island, causing a perturbation to the Ohmic plasma current. This Letter reports on experiments on the TEXTOR tokamak, investigating the effect of heating, which is usually neglected. The unique set of tools available on TEXTOR, notably the dynamic ergodic divertor to create islands with a fully known driving term, and the electron cyclotron emission imaging diagnostic to provide detailed 2D electron temperature information, enables a detailed study of the suppression process and a comparison with theory.

Received 17 August 2006

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.035001

Authors & Affiliations

I. G. J. Classen¹, E. Westerhof¹, C. W. Domier², A. J. H. Donné¹, R. J. E. Jaspers¹, N. C. Luhmann, Jr.², H. K. Park³, M. J. van de Pol¹, G. W. Spakman¹, and M. W. Jakubowski⁴ (the TEXTOR team⁴)

¹FOM-Institute for Plasma Physics Rijnhuizen, Association EURATOM-FOM, PO Box 1207, 3430 BE Nieuwegein, The Netherlands*,†
²Department of Applied Science, University of California at Davis, Davis, California 95616, USA
³Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey 08543, USA
⁴Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Institut für Plasmaphysik, Association EURATOM-FZJ, D-52425 Jülich, Germany*

^*Partners in the Trilateral Euregio Cluster.
^†Electronic address: www.rijnh.nl

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Vol. 98, Iss. 3 — 19 January 2007

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