Confinement and the safety factor profile

The conjecture that the safety factor profile, q(r), controls the improvement in tokamak plasmas from poor confinement in the Low (L-) mode regime to improved confinement in the supershot regime has been tested in two experiments on the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR). First, helium was puffed into the beam-heated phase of a supershot discharge which induced a degradation from supershot to L-mode confinement in about 100 msec, far less than the current relaxation time. The q and shear profiles measured by a motional Stark effect polarimeter showed little change during the confinement degradation. Second, rapid current ramps in supershot plasmas altered the q profile, but were observed not to change significantly the energy confinement. Thus, enhanced confinement in supershot plasmas is not due to a particular q profile which has enhanced stability or transport properties. The discharges making a continuous transition between supershot and L-mode confinement were also used to test the critical-electron-temperature-gradient transport model. It was found that this model could not reproduce the large changes in electron and ion temperature caused by the change in confinement

Core Poloidal Rotation and Internal Trnasport Barrier Formation in TFTR

Impurity poloidal rotation velocities have been measured in the core of TFTR plasmas using a new spectroscopic diagnostic. Two types of transitions to enhanced confinement in reversed shear plasmas are examined. A bifurcation in carbon poloidal rotation is observed to occur before the transition to enhanced confinement for one of these types, while other measured plasmas parameters remain constant. A narrow radial region with reversed poloidal rotation and rotational shear is established 60-100 ms before the transition, and is associated with a large negative radial electric field

The multichannel motional Stark effect diagnostic on TFTR

Although the q profile plays a key role in theories of instabilities and plasma equilibrium, it has been quite difficult to measure until the recent development of the motional Stark effect (MSE) diagnostic. A multichannel motional Stark effect polarimeter system has recently been installed on the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR). The diagnostic can measure the magnetic field pitch angle ({gamma}{sub p} = tan{sup {minus}1} (B{sub T})/(B{sup p})) at ten radial locations. The doppler shifted D{sub alpha} radiation from a TFTR heating beam is viewed near tangential to the toroidal magnetic field via a re-entrant front surface reflecting mirror. The field of view covers from inboard of the magnetic axis to near the outboard edge of the plasma with a radial spatial resolution of 3--5 cm. A high throughput f/2 optics system results in an uncertainty for {gamma}{sub p} of {approximately}0.1{degrees}--0.2{degrees} with a time resolution of {approximately}5--10 ms. Initial pinch angle profiles from TFTR have been obtained. The MSE data is consistent with the estimated magnetic axis position from external magnetic measurements and the q=1 radius is in good agreement with the inversion radius from the electron cyclotron emission temperature measurements

Measurement of the local particle diffusion coefficient in a magnetized plasma

Local impurity particle diffusion coefficients have been measured in a low temperature plasma by the injection of test particles at the center of the plasma. The injection is accomplished by a high voltage discharge between two small graphite electrodes on a probe. The probe can be located anywhere in the plasma. The diffusion is observed spectroscopically. An analysis of the spatial and temporal evolution of the CII radiation from the carbon discharge can determine the parallel and perpendicular diffusion of the impurity ions. Results with the diagnostic have been obtained in the Proto S-1/C spheromak. The measured value of the diffusion coefficient in the afterglow plasma is in good agreement with classical predictions

Study of the effects of photon statistics on Thomson scattering data

A computer code has been developed which simulates the counting statistics of a Thomson scattering measurement. The scattered and background signals in each of the wavelength channels are assumed to obey Poisson statistics, and the spectral data are fitted to a Gaussian curve using a nonlinear least-squares fitting algorithm. This method should be applicable to Thomson scattering measurements in which the signal-to-noise ratio is low due to low signal or high background. Thomson scattering data from the S-1 Spheromak have been compared to this simulation, and they have been found to be in good agreement. This code has proved to be useful assessing the effects of counting statistics relative to shot-to-shot variability in producing the observed spread in the data. It was also useful for designing improvements for the S-1 Thomson scattering system, and this method would be applicable to any measurements affected by counting statistics. 5 refs., 1 fig