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A heavy ion beam probe (HIBP) has been designed for the QUEST spherical tokamak to measure plasma turbulence and the profiles of electric potential profiles. Using a cesium ion beam with an energy of several 10 keV, the observable region covers most of the upper half of the plasma. Although the probe beam is deflected by the poloidal magnetic field produced by plasma current and poloidal coil currents, it can be detected under plasma current up to 150 kA by modifying the trajectories with two electrostatic sweepers. According to the numerical estimation of the intensity of the detected beam, sufficient signal intensity for measuring plasma turbulence can be obtained over almost the measurable area when the electron density is up to 1 × 1019 m−3, which is larger than the cut-off density of electron cyclotron heating in QUEST. The performance of the designed HIBP is sufficient to explore the mechanisms of heat and particle transport in magnetically confined plasmas, including the influence of plasma wall interactions, which is a goal of the QUEST project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heavy ion beam probe (HIBP) systems have been designed for the new tokamak, PLATO [A. Fujisawa, AIP Conf. Proc. 1993, 020011 (2018)]. The designs have been completed, and the installations are in progress. Two HIBPs are being installed in toroidal sections 180° apart to investigate long-range correlations in the toroidal direction. Each HIBP consists of an injection beamline and a detection beamline as usual. Yet, one of the HIBPs is equipped with an additional detection beamline; the measurement positions of its two detection beamlines can be placed on almost the same magnetic surface yet at poloidal angles that differ by ∼180°. The use of three detection beamlines allows us to investigate spatial asymmetry and long-range correlations in both the toroidal and poloidal directions, simultaneously. The detected beam intensity is expected to be enough for turbulence measurements in almost the entire plasma region when the electron density is up to 1 × 1019 m−3 by selecting appropriate ion species for the probe beam. Each detector has three channels 10 mm apart, allowing measurement of local structures of micro-scale turbulence. Therefore, using the HIBPs on the PLATO tokamak will enable both local and global properties of plasma turbulence to be investigated, simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After several experimental campaigns in the Kyushu University Experiment with Steady-state Spherical Tokamak (QUEST), the originally stainless steel plasma-facing wall (PFW) becomes completely covered with a deposited film composed of mixture materials, such as iron, chromium, carbon, and tungsten. In this work, an innovative colorimetry-based method was developed to measure the thickness of the deposited film on the actual QUEST wall. Because the optical constants of the deposited film on the PFW were position-dependent and the extinction coefficient k1 was about 1.0–2.0, which made the probing light not penetrate through some thick deposited films, the colorimetry method developed can only provide a rough value range of thickness of the metal-containing film deposited on the actual PFW in QUEST. However, the use of colorimetry is of great benefit to large-area inspections and to radioactive materials in future fusion devices that will be strictly prohibited from being taken out of the limited area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fluctuations are measured in the edge and scrape-off layer (SOL) of QUEST using fast visible imaging diagnostic. Electron cyclotron wave injection in the Ohmic plasma features excitation of low frequency coherent fluctuations near the separatrix and enhanced cross-field transport. Plasma shifts from initial high field side limiter bound (inboard limited, IL) towards inboard poloidal null (IPN) configuration with steepening of the density profile at the edge. This may have facilitated the increased edge and SOL fluctuation activities. Observation of the coherent mode, associated plasma flow, and particle out-flux, for the first time in the IPN plasma configuration in a spherical tokamak may provide further impetus to the edge and SOL turbulence studies in tokamaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heat flux and plasma flow in the scrape-off layer (SOL) are examined for the inboard poloidal field null (IPN) configuration of the spherical tokamak QUEST. In the plasma current (Ip) ramp-up phase, high heat flux (>1MW/m²) and supersonic flow (Mach number M>1) are found to be present simultaneously in the far-SOL. The heat flux is generated by energetic electrons excursed from the last closed flux surface. Supersonic flows in the poloidal and toroidal directions are correlated with each other. In the quasi-steady state, sawtooth-like oscillation of Ip at 20 Hz is observed. Heat flux and subsonic plasma flow in the far-SOL are modified corresponding to the Ip-oscillation. The heat flow caused by motion of energetic electrons and the bulk-particle transport to the far-SOL is enhanced during the low-Ip phase. Modification of plasma flow in the far SOL occurs earlier than the Ip crash. The M-Ip curve has a limit-cycle characteristic with sawtooth-like oscillation. Such a core-SOL relationship indicates that the far-SOL flow plays an important role in sustaining the oscillation of Ip in the IPN configuration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An orthogonal dynamic programming (ODP) based particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique is developed to measure the time resolved flow field of the fluctuating structures at the plasma edge and scrape off layer (SOL) of tokamaks. This non-intrusive technique can provide two dimensional velocity fields at high spatial and temporal resolution from a fast framing image sequence and hence can provide better insights into plasma flow as compared to conventional probe measurements. Applicability of the technique is tested with simulated image pairs. Finally, it is applied to tangential fast visible images of QUEST plasma to estimate the SOL flow in inboard poloidal null-natural divertor configuration. This technique is also applied to investigate the intricate features of the core of the run-away dominated phase following the injection of a large amount of neutrals in the target Ohmic plasma. Development of the ODP-PIV code and its applicability on actual plasma images is reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Rogowski probe consisting of a small multi-layer Rogowski coil, five magnetic pick-up coils, and a Langmuir probe was developed to measure the local current density and its direction. It can be moved along the major radius and can be turned around its axis. This probe was used to measure the current density profile near the last closed flux surface of Ohmic plasmas in Tokyo Spherical Tokamak-2. The current density profile was measured successfully with a signal to noise ratio of greater than 20. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present RF-driven plasma with a lot of high-energy electrons, there may be anisotropic plasma pressure, which makes the usual equilibrium analysis difficult, but the Cauchy condition surface method can reconstruct the plasma shape precisely regardless of the anisotropy. In addition, the plasma current effect in the open magnetic surfaces outside of the closed magnetic surfaces is considered in the RF-driven divertor plasma. In the reconstruction process, singular value (SV) decomposition is used and optimal criterion function for generalized cross validation is estimated concerning truncation or reduction of the small-SV components. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A scenario for non-inductive current ramp-up has been demonstrated using electron cyclotron waves in the spherical tokamak QUEST. The configuration was characterized by a high toroidal magnetic mirror ratio of 2 and a steady vertical magnetic field of more than 10% of the toroidal magnetic field. The generation and confinement of energetic electrons having energy greater than 10 keV were studied using hard x-rays. Because of the energetic electron pressure, a natural divertor formed with an inboard poloidal field null at the high poloidal beta (approximately 3–4). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transitions between low (L-mode) and intermediate (I-phase) confinement regimes triggered by sawteeth are investigated using multiple Langmuir probe arrays in the edge plasmas of the HL-2A tokamak. The I-phase is characterized by limit-cycle oscillations (LCOs). Repeated L–I–L transitions induced by sawtooth heat pulses are also observed. Statistical analyses show that the delay time of the L–I transition relative to sawtooth crashes is less than ∼1 ms. The intensity of turbulence bursts in the I-phase is stronger than those observed in L-mode plasmas. Measurements are consistent with zonal flow reducing turbulence intensity in the frequency band ∼20–100 kHz, while the LCO turbulence of frequency higher than 100 kHz has more power than that in the L-mode. The analyses of time-resolved power transfers between turbulence and zonal flows suggest that power transfers exist between turbulence and zonal flows. The direction of the power transfers is from turbulence into geodesic acoustic modes in ohmic plasmas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The radial structures of multiple sheared flow populations and fluctuations are simultaneously measured using combinations of Langmuir probe arrays in the edge plasmas of the HL-2A tokamak with ohmic and electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH). The maximum of geodesic acoustic mode (GAM) amplitude locates at ~2-3 cm inside the last close flux surface (LCFS). The low-frequency zonal flow (LFZF) and GAM tend to coexist in the inner region. The dependences of the amplitudes of the multiple sheared flows and turbulence on ECRH heating power are also investigated. The measured turbulent Reynolds stresses are shown to be strongly correlated with the sheared flows, as predicted by theory. The turbulence is modulated at the each frequency of the multiple sheared flows simultaneously, and the particle fluxes induced by the turbulence are significantly reduced near the LCFS and in the GAM peaking region. The analyses also show that the spatial structures of the turbulent envelopes at the LFZF and GAM frequencies are similar to those observed in LFZF and GAM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plasma current (Ip) start-up in a spherical tokamak (ST) by waves in the lower-hybrid (LH) frequency range was investigated on TST-2. A low current (~1 kA) ST configuration can be formed by waves over a broad frequency range (21 MHz-8.2GHz in TST-2), but further Ip ramp-up (to ~10kA) is most efficient with waves in the LH frequency range. Ip ramp-up to 15 kA was achieved with 60 kw of net RF power PRF in the fast wave (FW) polarization at 200 MHz excited by the inductively coupled combline antenna. X-ray measurements showed that the photon flux and temperature are higher in the direction opposite to Ip, consistent with acceleration of electrons by a uni-directional RF wave. There is evidence that the LH wave is excited nonlinearly by the FW, based on the frequency spectra measured by magnetic probes. Similar efficiencies of Ip ramp-up were obtained with the inductive combline antenna and the dielectric-loaded waveguide array ('grill') antenna, and tendencies for the current drive efficiency to increase with plasma current and toroidal field were observed. During operation of the grill antenna, wavevector components were measured by an array of magnetic probes. Results were qualitatively consistent with expectations based on dispersion relations for the FW and the LH wave. A capacitively coupled combline antenna has been developed to improve coupling to the plasma and the wavenumber spectrum of the excited LH wave, and will be tested in 2013. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In multi-pass Thomson scattering (TS) scheme, a laser pulse makes multiple round trips through the plasma, and the effective laser energy is enhanced, and we can increase the signal-to-noise ratio as a result. We have developed a coaxial optical cavity in which a laser pulse is confined, and we performed TS measurements using the coaxial cavity in tokamak plasmas for the first time. In the optical cavity, the laser energy attenuation was approximately 30% in each round trip, and we achieved a photon number gain of about 3 compared with that obtained in the first round trip. In addition, the temperature measurement accuracy was improved by accumulating the first three round trip waveforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the JFT-2M tokamak (JFT standing for JAERI Fusion Torus), the limit cycle oscillation (LCO), together with several variables, i.e., the electrostatic potential, radial electric field, electron density, turbulence intensity, and Dα emission from the divertor region, is observed before the L-to-H transition. The spatiotemporal dynamics of the LCO is analysed in detail. Zonal flows are not seen, while modulation is observed in the edge-localized poloidal flow and density gradient. Modulation is also seen in the Reynolds stress, caused by that in the turbulence intensity and turbulence wavenumber. However, flow acceleration cannot be explained by the modulation in the Reynolds stress. Rapid inward propagation is also observed for the density gradient and turbulence packet. The characteristics of the propagation are verified by means of turbulence spreading theory and diffusion theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poloidal and radial distributions of the hydrogen flux, both atomic and ion, to the plasma facing materials (PFMs) are measured with four fixed and one movable PdCu membrane probes in the QUEST spherical tokamak. Direct information about hydrogen retention in the areas far from main plasma-wall interaction is essential because the significant part of the global retention is due to atomic hydrogen. Incident hydrogen flux Γ inc is numerically reconstructed by fitting the experimentally measured hydrogen flux Γ p , permeated through the membrane. The sensitivity of the probe is improved when compared with other work which allows dynamic changes of the retention flux to be monitored, allowing detection of 10% of the Γ inc modulation, or ∼10 17 H m −2 s −1 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen wall pumping is studied in steady state tokamak operation (SSTO) of QUEST with all metal plasma facing materials PFMs at 100 °C. The duration of SSTO is up to 820 s in fully non-inductive plasma. Global gas balance analysis shows that wall pumping at the apparent (retention–release) rate of 1–6 × 10 18 H/s is dominant and 70–80% of injected H 2 can be retained in PFMs. However, immediately after plasma termination the H 2 release rate enhances to ∼10 19 H/s. In order to understand a true retention process the direct measurement of retention flux has been carried out by permeation probes. The comparison between the evaluated wall retention and results from global analysis is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A plasma control system to sustain divertor configurations is developed on QUEST (Q-shu university experiment with steady-state spherical tokamak). Magnetic fluxes are numerically integrated at 100kHz using FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) modules and transferred to a main calculation loop at 4kHz. With these signals, plasma shapes are identified in real time at 2kHz under the assumption that the plasma current can be represented as one filament current. This calculation is done in another calculation loop in parallel by taking advantage of a multi-core processor of the plasma control system. The inside and outside plasma edge positions are controlled to their target positions using PID (proportional-integral-derivative) control loops. Whereas the outside edge position can not be controlled by the outer PF coil current, the inside edge position can be controlled by the inner PF coil current. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We investigate spatial structures of turbulence and turbulent transport modulated by the geodesic acoustic mode (GAM), from which the excitation mechanism of the GAM is discussed. The GAM is found to be predominantly excited through a localized Reynolds stress force, rather than the dynamic shearing force. The evaluated growth rate is larger than the linear damping coefficients and is on the same order of magnitude as the effective growth rate evaluated from time evolution in the GAM kinetic energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]