Access to high-confinement regimes on Alcator C-Mod and the complex influence of divertor geometry
Abstract
Placement of X-points and strike points in a diverted tokamak can have a remarkable impact on plasma properties, including thermal and particle confinement. The distinctive divertor of Alcator C-Mod allows substantial variation of divertor leg length, field line attack angle and divertor baffling, allowing us to induce changes in both L-mode confinement and access to both H-mode and I-mode. With the ion ∇B drift directed toward the divertor, scanning the strike point can induce ~ 2 × reductions in H-mode power threshold, and can produce a window for I-mode operation with H98 > 1 . Detailed high-resolution measurements, spanning the last closed flux surface, provide profiles of key quantities (n, T, ϕ) and their gradients, which are of likely importance in determining whether a discharge evolves an edge transport barrier, or remains in an L-mode state. Advances in Langmuir probes have enabled characterization of both radial profiles and fast (< 1 MHz) fluctuations in L-mode as the L-H threshold power is approached. These data allow new tests of models for H-mode access, especially those attempting to explain the non-monotonic density dependence of the H-mode power threshold through changes in transport and/or turbulence.
Supported by U.S. Department of Energy award DE-FC02-99ER54512, using Alcator C-Mod, a DOE Office of Science User Facility.- Publication:
-
APS Division of Plasma Physics Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- November 2015
- Bibcode:
- 2015APS..DPPC12004H