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We present new information on the development of Alfven modes on the Globus-M2 spherical tokamak. Data have been obtained using a V-band Doppler reflectometer with probing radiation frequencies from 50 to 75 GHz. Аs a multifrequency source of probing radiation, a microwave harmonic synthesizer has been used. As a result of using the new reflectometer, the toroidal Alfven mode localization in a magnetic field of 0.5 T has been obtained. The spectral components of the Alfven mode with Doppler frequency shifts caused by toroidal plasma rotation have been registered. In the central regions of the discharge, so-called “Alfven cascades” have been investigated.

On the spherical tokamak Globus-M2 in discharges with toroidal magnetic field of 0.7 T by means of magnetic probes and a number of other diagnostics during neutral beam injection at the current ramp up stage, magnetic field oscillations in the range of 100–300 kHz having their frequency increasing in time, had been observed. Eigenmodes with wavenumbers n = 1–3 and m = 2–4 were being registered. These oscillations were identified as Alfven cascades. By means of multi-channel fluctuation reflectometer, observed eigenmodes were found to be localized near the magnetic shear reversal radius. Application of MHD-spectroscopy technique allowed us to determine safety factor temporal evolution and experimental values are in well agreement with modelling results, provided by ASTRA transport code.

The Alfven oscillations were studied using the multifrequency Doppler backscattering (DBS) method on the Globus-M spherical tokamak during the neutral deuterium injection. The principles of Alfven mode registration by the DBS method are discussed. Microwave schemes of multifrequency probing are described. It is shown that the observed plasma rotation velocity oscillations are due to the oscillations of the drift velocity in crossed radial electric field of the Alfven wave and the magnetic field. The absolute values of the magnetic field perturbations of the toroidal Alfven eigenmode (TAE) in the internal regions of the tokamak discharge are determined. The obtained data are compared with the results of the magnetic field oscillations measurements obtained by a magnetic probe located outside the plasma region. The use of multifrequency probing in the DBS method made it possible to determine the radial distributions of the amplitude of magnetic field oscillations. These data were obtained for oscillations at the TAE fundamental frequency and at harmonic frequencies, which were found to correspond to different toroidal mode numbers. In general, the data obtained can be compared with the results of numerical modeling of the Alfven spectrum in the Globus-M tokamak. The prospects for the further use of the DBS method for studying Alfven oscillations in toroidal installations are discussed.

Here we report the results of the turbulence study in the high-confinement mode (H-mode) with and without edge localized modes (ELMs). The study was performed by the Doppler backscattering (DBS) method on the Globus-M tokamak. Two types of ELMs were observed in the Globus-M tokamak during NBI heating and accordingly, two different transitions to transient ELM-free modes were discovered. It was demonstrated that the transition from the H-mode with ELMs accompanied by small sawtooth oscillations to the ELM-free H-mode is characterized by the drop of the turbulence amplitude near the periphery while the transition in the case of ELMs is accompanied by large sawtooth oscillations, which occur without suppression of peripheral turbulence.

International audience; It is recognized that the filaments have a significant effect on the anomalous energy and particle transport in the tokamak periphery. They are actively investigated using various diagnostics in this regard. Recently studies of filaments using the Doppler backscattering (DBS) method have been performed in the Globus-M and the ASDEX-Upgrade tokamaks. Backscattering from filaments manifests itself as a burst of quasi-coherent fluctuations (BQF) of the signals of IQ detectors. Such signals are easy to describe in the Born approximation using the diagnostic weighting function. However, the filaments in tokamaks differ noticeably in their size and intensity. With an increase in the amplitude of the filaments, it is necessary to consider the transition from linear scattering to nonlinear one and further up to the transition from backscattering to reflection from a moving over dens filament. This problem can be solved only using a full wave code. Our simulation was carried out using the finite-difference time-domain code IPF-FD3D in slab geometry. We did not resort to using well-known non-linear MHD codes to determine filament parameters. In the simulation artificial filament-like perturbations were used, the parameters of which varied over a wide range. Modeling DBS signal was focused on the identification of the influence of the amplitude of the filament and its size on the shape and the size of the DBS output signal. The results obtained largely explain the similarity of the IQ detector data registered in different tokamaks.

The results of a study of toroidal Alfven modes using the multifrequency method of Doppler backscattering at the Globus-M tokamak have been presented. The method for recording Alfven modes in multichannel probing has been introduced. The possible causes of the observed oscillations of the poloidal velocity of plasma rotation at the frequencies of Alfven waves have been discussed in detail. The data on the spatial distribution of Alfven modes have been presented. The recommendations for further development of Doppler backscattering for a more detailed study of toroidal Alfven modes at tokamaks have been defined.

Results of experimental studies of toroidal Alfven eigenmodes (TAEs) in the Globus-M spherical tokamak (R = 36 cm, a = 24 cm) are reported. The experiments were carried out in a wide range of plasma parameters at a magnetic field of up to 0.5 T and plasma current of up to 250 kA. Auxiliary plasma heating was performed by tangential injection of a deuterium beam with a power of Pb= 0.75 MW and particle energy of Eb = 28 keV into deuterium plasma. The experiments have shown that the TAE-induced loss of fast particles decreases with increasing plasma current and magnetic field. Using multifrequency Doppler backscattering diagnostics, it is established that the TAEs are localized at the plasma periphery. Results of simulations of the Alfven continuum and TAE structure by means of the modified KINX and CAXE codes agree satisfactory with the experimental data on the TAE frequencies and localization.

Geodesic acoustic mode (GAM) observations in TUMAN-3M tokamak show that in ohmic discharges with low plasma density GAM have intermittent character; transition to high confinement regime (LH-transition) is usually preceded by a short (up to 5 ms) GAM burst series with distinctive frequency drop, or there exists long (up to 30 ms) GAM burst series evolution with several characteristic timescales and varying amplitude. To determinate the effect of GAM temporal parameters on the possibility of LH-transition initiation numerical modeling of plasma density profile evolution under the effect of GAM burst sequence with varying frequency and amplitude was carried out.

The work presents the results of the energy confinement study carried out on the compact spherical tokamak Globus-M2 with a toroidal magnetic field as high as 0.8 T. A reproducible and stable discharge was obtained with the average plasma density (5–10) × 1019 m−3. Despite the increase in the magnetic field, the neutral beam injection (NBI) led to clear and reproducible transition to the H-mode accompanied by a decrease in the turbulence level at the plasma edge. NBI allowed effectively heat the plasma: electron and ion temperatures in the plasma core exceeded 1 keV. Compared to the previous experiments carried out with a toroidal magnetic field as high as 0.4 T plasma total stored energy was increased by a factor of 4. The main reason or this phenomenon is a strong dependence of the energy confinement time on the toroidal magnetic field in the spherical tokamak. It was experimentally confirmed that such kind of dependence is valid for ST with magnetic field up to 0.8 T. It has also been shown that the enhancement of the energy confinement in Globus-M2 with collisionality decrease is associated with an improvement of both electron and ion thermal insulation.

A new model for interaction between the internal reconnections caused by sawtooth and the edge-localized modes (ELM) was presented. The experimental evidence of the coupling between sawtooth crash and ELM events were observed in the Globus-M and Globus-M2 tokamaks. The numerical analysis of magnetic equilibrium showed that internal reconnections can induce the excess current density near the separatrix during the several hundreds of μs. The excess current destabilizes the peeling-ballooning (PB) instability. The PB stability analysis showed that the penetration depth of the induced current should be in the range of ψ norm = 0.8–0.95 to trigger the instability.

Results of the studies on turbulences carried out on the Globus-M2 and Globus-M tokamaks are presented. The main focus was on the analysis of the data obtained using Doppler backscattering method (DBS). The developed codes for the analysis of DBS signals allowed to study the effects of turbulences on the operational mode of the tokamak. A description of the data processing codes is also included. The analysis performed indicates the suppression of turbulence and the formation of a velocity shear during the L-H transition. It was also successfully used to study density fluctuations during and between edge localized modes (ELMs). Spectral and correlation analysis also led to the discovery of limit-cycle oscillations (LCO) and quasi coherent fluctuations (QCFs) during the I-phase.

The method of Doppler backscattering (DBS) has been applied for the study of Alfven oscillations in the tokamak plasma for the first time. The oscillations of the plasma rotation velocity at the Alfven frequency have been able to be registered using DBS during the studies on the Globus-M spherical tokamak. The area of the development of Alfven instability has been determined. The measurement of the amplitude of rotation velocity oscillations has allowed the estimation of the absolute values of the amplitudes of the oscillations of the electric and magnetic fields of Alfven oscillations in the region of their existence in the plasma-discharge volume in tokamak.

Experimental data are presented that indicate the effect of the magnetohydrodynamic tearing mode in the Globus-M spherical tokamak on the occurrence of filamentary structures (filaments). The filaments are recorded by the Doppler backscattering method. The groups of filaments localized in the toroidal direction are discovered, the appearance of which is synchronized with the propagation of the tearing mode. Possible causes of the effect of low-frequency magnetohydrodynamic oscillations on the occurrence of filament groups are considered.

Here we report the results of the turbulence study in the high confinement mode (H-mode) with and without edge localized modes (ELMs). The study was performed by the Doppler backscattering (DBS) method on the Globus-M tokamak. It was demonstrated that the transition from the H-mode with ELMs to the ELM-free H-mode is characterized by the drop of the turbulence intensity near the periphery.

The current work reports on the significant rise of the fusion triple product in experiments carried out on the compact spherical tokamak (ST) Globus-M2 with a twofold increase in the toroidal magnetic field. A tenfold rise in the n . T . τ E product was recorded during an increase in the magnetic field from 0.4 to 0.8 T and the plasma current from 0.25 to 0.4 MA at an unchanged auxiliary heating power value. Limited reasons may affect this positive trend, among which are energy confinement improvement and an increase in the efficiency of neutral beam heating. Despite the increase in the magnetic field, the neutral beam injection (NBI) led to clear and reproducible transition to the H-mode accompanied by a decrease in the turbulence level at the plasma edge. It was experimentally confirmed that strong dependence of the energy confinement time on the magnetic field value is conserved at a higher magnetic field approaching 0.8 T. Enhancement of energy confinement is connected to a collisionality (ν *) decrease. While for conventional tokamaks the confinement dependence on collisionality becomes weaker with decreasing ν * dependence, in the ST, in contrast, we observe its strengthening.

This article considers a four-frequency microwave Doppler backscattering (DBS) system in the compact spherical tokamak Globus-M. The hardware was adequate for the purposes of studying the peripheral plasma in the tokamak. The multichannel DBS system is based on duplication of a dual homodyne detection circuit for four incident Ka-band frequencies. The ray tracing results for a spherical torus are described, and specific requirements for the antenna tilt adjustment are defined. Some new experimental results are given for using DBS diagnostics on the Globus-M tokamak in order to illustrate its efficiency.

During modernization of the Globus-M tokamak, toroidal magnetic field and plasma current were increased, and a number of diagnostics were upgraded, which made it possible to study phenomena associated with the excitation of Alfvén waves in a spherical tokamak in a wider range of plasma parameters. In the experiments with neutral beam injection, the dependences of fast particle losses initiated by the toroidal Alfvén eigenmodes (TAE) on their magnitude in the magnetic field range of 0.4 – 0.7 T and currents of 180 – 330 kA were acquired. Resulting dependences confirm previously obtained results and indicate a decrease in losses with increasing magnetic field and plasma current. At the same time, a number of new phenomena, that have never been observed on Globus-M were detected. In experiments with neutral beam injection at the current ramp up stage, Alfvén cascades (AC) in the frequency range of 100 – 300 kHz were observed for the first time. By means of the Doppler backscattering diagnostics (DBS), it was shown that ACs are localized closer to magnetic axis unlike TAE. Also, during low hybrid wave current drive (LHCD) experiments, global Alfvén eigenmodes (GAE) were detected at a frequency close to 1 MHz, apparently driven in the resonance with runaway electron beam. Detected global eigenmodes are also able to arise in ohmic discharges, however, their magnitude is lower.

A turbulence study was carried out on the Globus-M tokamak. The main method of turbulence studying was Doppler backscattering. Studies have been performed at different radii (in areas with different plasma parameters). It was found that during the transition from H-mode with edge localized modes (ELMs) to the improved confinement mode without ELMs, both turbulent fluctuations of the plasma density and velocity fluctuations are suppressed, which apparently leads to a decrease in anomalous transport.

Some factors limiting an increase in the plasma pressure at the periphery of the tokamak plasmas can arise when the improved confinement is achieved in the H-mode. It happens when the edge localized modes (ELMs) develop in tokamak plasmas, and the factors mentioned above manifested themselves in the form of quasi-periodic filamentary structures, or filaments. The formation of such structures results in the occurrence of the anomalous energy and particle flows onto the first wall and divertor plates of tokamaks. Studies of the filaments were previously performed at tokamaks with divertor configuration using various plasma diagnostic methods, including the Doppler backscattering method. The paper presents the first observations of the filaments at the TUMAN-3M, which is the tokamak with limiter configuration. The filaments were studied using the Doppler backscattering method. Plasma was probed by the double-frequency microwave radiation of the O-wave in the frequency range of 27–37 GHz. The data were obtained in the H-mode regime initiated by the pulsed gas injection, in which the ELM-like events are observed. The poloidal velocity of the filaments and their radial localization were determined, and the radial and poloidal sizes of the filaments were also estimated.

We present the results of a comparative investigation of geodesic acoustic modes (GAMs) by the method of bicoherence analysis in tokamaks (Tuman-3M and Globus-M) with different aspect ratios. The obtained data provide indirect evidence of the mutual influence of GAMs and background turbulence of tokamak plasma. The cross-bicoherence spectra were calculated using the signals of Doppler reflectometers and temporal dependences of the velocity of plasma rotation in the electric field of GAMs. The level of bicoherence in both tokamaks increases before transition to the H-mode and then decays down to the noise level in the H-mode.

A series of experiments have been performed on the Globus-M spherical tokamak under conditions with additional plasma heating by a beam of neutral atoms at the stage of plasma current buildup. This regime allowed a region with negative magnetic shear to be formed in the inner plasma region adjacent to the magnetic axis. Under these conditions, the stability margin coefficient at the axis was greater than unity. This scenario of plasma heating leads to the transition to a regime of improved confinement with the formation of a broad temperature profile and peaked electron density profile due to the formation on internal barriers. Results of experiments and numerical simulations of transport processes using the ASTRA code are presented.

Experimental results showing evidence for the development of filaments in plasma of the Globus-M spherical tokamak have been obtained by the method of Doppler reflectometry. The correlation between the reflectometric data and results of probe measurements at the periphery of discharge in the tokamak is found. Experimental data were used to determine the rotation velocities of filaments, the moments of their appearance at the transition to improved confinement, and regions of filament formation.

In the final Globus-M experimental campaign B tor and I p were raised by 25% up to 0.5 T and 250 kA, respectively, expanding available range of experimental parameters. In these experiments an overall improvement in plasma performance was observed, plasma total stored energy and neutron rate increased significantly. The energy confinement time dependence on B tor and n e was close to linear. L-H transition threshold was 5–10 times higher than threshold predicted by the scaling. Despite the small plasma-wall distance, the level of radiation losses in the main plasma volume was relatively small and decreased as B tor rised. An increase in B tor and I p led to a decrease in the sawtooth-induced losses. While a rise in the plasma current led to a decrease of fast ion losses per TAE burst at the same amplitude; frequency of bursts and their amplitude increased. Doppler backscattering, applied to study TAE localization for the first time, revealed that TAE fluctuations are localized in the region of normalized minor radii ρ = 0.5–0.75. A new movable 9-pin head probe provided data, necessary for power decay length scaling investigation. Significant power decay length contraction, stronger than predicted by Eich’s scaling, was observed.

The Globus-M2 spherical tokamak is the considerably upgraded Globus-M facility. Its technical parameters were increased as much as possible to achieve the promising range of physical parameters (sub-fusion temperatures and collisionality of much less than unity). These parameters will be achieved in a compact magnetic configuration similar to that of the Globus-M tokamak, the plasma current and toroidal magnetic field amounting to 0.5 MA and 1 T, respectively. The demand to increase the magnetic field and plasma current in the Globus-M2 resulted in the need for a complete redesign of the electromagnetic system because the plasma equilibrium requirements have changed and the mechanical and thermal loads have considerably increased as compared to the Globus-M. The vacuum vessel and the in-vessel components of the new Globus-M2 tokamak remain the same. Power supplies were upgraded to provide the required currents in the toroidal field coil and the central solenoid. The Globus-M2 tokamak was build up and preliminary tests were carried out. New auxiliary heating systems and diagnostics were developed and installed to be used in future experiments. Fist plasma was achieved at the Globus-M2 in April 2018.

Analysis of stability of the peeling-ballooning modes in the edge plasma of the Globus-M tokamak is presented. Studies were performed using the ideal 3D MHD code written in the BOUT++ framework. The edge localized modes which are frequently observed in the Globus-M plasma could be described using MHD theory. It was found that the parameters of the Globus-M edge plasma are in the range of stability for the peeling-ballooning modes. The instability modes with a toroidal number of n = 12 and typical distances between filaments of approximately ~12 cm were found to be the most unstable. This statement agrees with the Doppler backscattering measurements. It was also considered whether the plasma in the Globus-M2 tokamak will be stable against the PB instability.

25th Fusion Energy Conference (FEC), Govt Russian Federat, St Petersburg, RUSSIA, OCT 13-18, 2014; International audience; In this paper we present the fusion related activities of the Plasma Physics Division at the Ioffe Institute. The first experiments on lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) in a spherical tokamak performed at the Globus-M tokamak (R = 0.36 m, a = 0.24 m, B-t = 0.4 T, I-p = 200 kA) with a novel poloidally oriented grill resulted in an RF driven current of up to 30 kA at (100kW, 2.5 GHz), exceeding the modelling predictions. At the FT-2 tokamak (R = 0.56 m, a = 0.08 m, B-t = 3T, I-p = 30 kA) experiments with a traditional toroidally oriented grill revealed no strong dependence of the LHCD density limit on the H/D ratio in spite of LH resonance densities differing by a factor of 3. Microwave Doppler reflectometry (DR) at the Globus-M, and DR and heavy ion beam probe measurements at the tokamak TUMAN-3M (R = 0.53 m, a = 0.24 m, B-t = 1.0T, I-p = 190 kA) demonstrated geodesic acoustic mode (GAM) suppression at the L to H transition. Observations at FT-2 using Doppler Enhanced Scattering showed that the GAM amplitude is anti-correlated both spatially and temporally to the drift turbulence level and electron thermal diffusivity. For the first time turbulence amplitude modulation at the GAM frequency was found both experimentally and in global gyrokinetic modelling. A model of the L-H transition is proposed based on this effect. The loss mechanisms of energetic ions' (EI) were investigated in the neutral beam injection (NBI) experiments on Globus-M and TUMAN-3M. Empirical scaling of the 2.45 MeV DD neutron rate for the two devices shows a strong dependence on toroidal field B-t(1.29) and plasma current I-p(1.34) justifying the B-t and I-p increase by a factor of 2.5 for the proposed upgrade of Globus-M. Bursts of similar to 1 MHz Alfvenic type oscillations correlating with sawtooth crashes were observed in ohmic TUMAN-3M discharges. The possibility of low threshold parametric excitation of Bernstein and upper hybrid waves trapped in drift-wave eddies resulting in anomalous absorption in electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) experiments in toroidal plasmas was identified theoretically. A novel method of radial correlation Doppler reflectometry is shown to be capable of measuring the turbulence wave-number spectrum in realistic 2D geometry. On the progress in design and fabrication of three diagnostics for ITER developed in the Ioffe institute is reported: neutral particle analysis, divertor Thomson scattering and gamma spectroscopy.

The first experiments on noninductive current drive (CD) using lower hybrid waves in a spherical tokamak are described. Waves at 2.45 GHz were launched by a 10 waveguide grill with 120° phase shift between neighbouring waveguides. The experimental results for a novel poloidal slowing-down scheme are described. The CD efficiency is found to be somewhat larger than that predicted theoretically whilst at the same time being somewhat less than that for standard tokamak lower hybrid CD. Geodesic acoustic modes (GAM) have been discovered in Globus-M. GAMs are localized 2–3 cm inside the separatrix. The GAM frequency agrees with theory. The mode structures of plasma density and magnetic field oscillation at the GAM frequency have been studied. Fast particle confinement during neutral beam injection has been investigated and numerically simulated. Alfven instabilities excited by fast particles were detected by a toroidal Mirnov probe array. Their excitation conditions are discussed and the dynamics of fast ion losses induced by Alfven eigenmodes is presented. Preliminary experiments on the isotopic effect influence on global confinement in the ohmic heating (OH) regime are described. Scrape-off layer (SOL) parameters were measured and compared with results from self-consistent integrated transport modelling. Results showed that SOL width scales inversely proportional to plasma current. The behaviour of an a priori damaged tungsten divertor plate mock-up exposed to plasma flows was investigated. Preliminary conclusions are that the initial damage gives rise to a loose layer formation with low thermal conductivity right beneath the surface. Finally, engineering design issues of the next step—Globus-M2 (1 T, 500 kA) and the status of component manufacture are described.

Fine scale turbulence is considered nowadays as a possible candidate for the explanation of anomalous ion and electron energy transport in magnetized fusion plasmas. The unique correlative upper hybrid resonance backscattering (UHR BS) technique is applied at the FT-2 tokamak for investigation of density fluctuations excited in this turbulence. The measurements are carried out in Ohmic discharge at several values of plasma current and density and during current ramp up experiment. The moveable focusing antennas set have been used in experiments allowing probing out of equatorial plane. The radial wave number spectra of the small-scale component of tokamak turbulence are determined from the correlation data with high spatial resolution. Two small-scale modes possessing substantially different phase velocities are observed in plasma under conditions when the threshold for the electron temperature gradient mode excitation is overcome. The possibility of plasma poloidal velocity profile determination using the UHR BS signal is demonstrated.

The experiments described in the paper are aimed at investigating the possible influence of the low frequency magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) activity burst on the Ohmic H-mode in the TUMAN-3M tokamak. During the MHD burst a transient deterioration of improved confinement was observed. The study has been focused on the measurements of plasma fluctuation poloidal velocity performed by microwave Doppler reflectometry. The plasma fluctuation rotation observed before the MHD burst in the vicinity of the edge transport barrier was in the direction of plasma drift in the negative radial electric field. During the MHD activity the measured poloidal velocity was drastically decreased and even changed its sign. Radial profiles of the poloidal velocity measured in a set of reproducible tokamak shots exhibited the plasma fluctuation rotation in the ion diamagnetic drift direction at the location of the peripheral transport barrier. The possible reasons for this phenomenon are discussed.

An approach to numerical simulations of microwave scattering in Doppler reflectometry is developed that is based on calculations of the two-dimensional spatial weighting function in the Born approximation. The knowledge of the spatial weighting (or instrumental) function, which contains complete information on both forward and backward scattering processes, allows one to calculate the output signal of a quadrature diagnostic detector for any given distribution of the electron plasma density fluctuations. The weighting functions were computed for axisymmetric distributions of the background plasma density and for arbitrarily specified fields in the mouths of the emitting and receiving antennas. Simulations carried out for different model representations of the scattering fluctuations yielded quantitative estimates of both the spatial and wavenumber resolutions of Doppler reflectometry. The simulations showed that the resolution of the method proposed worsens with increasing curvature of the cut-off surface. Conditions are determined under which the resolution of the diagnostics in small-and medium-size tokamaks can be substantially improved by using converging microwave beams. The possibility of utilizing focused probing microwave beams in Doppler reflectometry on ITER-scale devices is discussed.

Three methods to study the effect of density fluctuations on the reflected signal, based on a 2D full-wave analysis and Born approximation numerical and analytical calculations, are developed. The explicit analytical expression for the signal produced by an island-like perturbation running in poloidal direction is obtained and shown to be in nice agreement with results of numerical techniques for small level density perturbations. It is shown, both numerically and analytically, that due to small-angle scattering effects, fluctuations far from the cut-off layer may produce a significant and, in some realistic cases, dominant response. The conditions under which the fluctuation reflectometry signal is generated only in the cut-off vicinity are given.

The reflectometer method is used to comparatively study plasma fluctuations in the edge plasma of the TUMAN-3M tokamak during L—H transitions initiated by different methods. It is shown that the width of the spectrum of backscattered microwave radiation is the most representative parameter when comparing the results obtained in different confinement regimes. The following methods for affecting the edge plasma were applied: gas puffing, a fast current ramp-up, a rapid increase in the toroidal magnetic field, and ion cyclotron heating. The studies were performed at different positions of the cutoff of O-and X-mode probing waves. A similar behavior of the spectral width was observed during transitions triggered by the fast current ramp-up and the rapid increase in the toroidal field. This provides evidence that the mechanism for transition to the H-mode is the same in both cases in spite of the different character of the evolution of the current density profiles. The fastest and strongest narrowing of the spectra was observed during the transition triggered by ion cyclotron heating. Possible reasons for similarities and differences in the behavior of the spectra during the transitions to the improved confinement regime are discussed.

The first results of an investigation of geodesic acoustic modes (GAMs) in the Globus-M spherical tokamak are presented. The experiments were performed using Doppler reflectometry. The conditions of the appearance of GAMs, the nature of their development, and their radial localization have been studied. The obtained data are compared to experimental results obtained in tokamaks with large aspect ratios.

Diagnostics which is currently installed or under active development for a newly commissioned spherical tokamak (ST) Globus-M is described. Among the commonly implemented plasma diagnostics the pri...

Results are presented from studies of small-scale plasma density fluctuations in the FT-2 tokamak by the method of far-forward CO2-laser collective scattering. The frequency and wavenumber spectra of fluctuations are measured using parallel k analysis at various positions of the scattering volume in the plane of the minor cross section of the torus. The data obtained are interpreted using numerical simulations. In phenomenological models, plasma fluctuations are substituted by a superposition of two-dimensional noninteracting cells with Gaussian profiles. A comparison of the calculated and experimental spectra shows that plasma fluctuations should be described based on the concept of strong microturbulence. The poloidal rotation velocity and the characteristic scale length of the scattering fluctuations, as well as the radial position of the region where they are located, are determined. The diffusion coefficient of the cells introduced in the model turns out to be close to the thermal diffusivity determined from the electron energy balance in the ohmic phase of the discharge.

Based on experimental observations using the TUMAN-3M and FT-2 tokamaks, and the results of gyrokinetic modeling of the interplay between turbulence and the geodesic acoustic mode (GAM) in these installations, a simple model is proposed for the analysis of the conditions required for L–H transition triggering by a burst of radial electric field oscillations in a tokamak. In the framework of this model, one-dimensional density evolution is considered to be governed by an anomalous diffusion coefficient dependent on radial electric field shear. The radial electric field is taken as the sum of the oscillating term and the quasi-stationary one determined by density and ion temperature gradients through a neoclassical formula. If the oscillating field parameters (amplitude, frequency, etc) are properly adjusted, a transport barrier forms at the plasma periphery and sustains after the oscillations are switched off, manifesting a transition into the high confinement mode with a strong inhomogeneous radial electric field and suppressed transport at the plasma edge. The electric field oscillation parameters required for L–H transition triggering are compared with the GAM parameters observed at the TUMAN-3M (in the discharges with ohmic L–H transition) and FT-2 tokamaks (where no clear L–H transition was observed). It is concluded based on this comparison that the GAM may act as a trigger for the L–H transition, provided that certain conditions for GAM oscillation and tokamak discharge are met.

Plasma fluctuations in the Tuman-3M tokamak are studied experimentally by analyzing backscattered radiation for different angles of incidence of the probing beam from the normal to the cut-off surface. The poloidal rotation velocity of the plasma fluctuations is determined from the Doppler shift of the reflected radiation spectrum measured on the edge of the tokamak during the transition to the H-mode. It is shown that, before the transition to the H-mode, the rotation velocity can be estimated quantitatively from the spectral shift or from the rate at which the phase of the reflected signal grows. The experimental data obtained during the transition to the H-mode provide evidence for the onset of a sheared poloidal flow. The shear makes it difficult to correctly estimate the poloidal rotation velocity in the improved confinement regime. The main mechanisms responsible for the broadening of the backscattered radiation spectra are considered. The turbulent diffusion coefficients determined under the assumption that the spectral broadening is diffusive in character are found to be close to those determined from the charged-particle balance.

The targeted plasma parameters of the compact spherical tokamak (ST) Globus-M have basically been achieved. The reasons that prevent further extension of the operating space are discussed. The operational limits of Globus-M together with an understanding of the limiting reasons form the basis for defining the design requirements for the next-step, Globus-M2. The recent experimental and theoretical results achieved with Globus-M are discussed, the operational problems and the research programme are summarized and finally, the targeted Globus-M2 parameters are presented. The magnetic field and plasma current in Globus-M2 will be increased to 1?T and 0.5?MA, respectively. The plasma dimensions will remain unchanged. With auxiliary heating at a high average plasma density, the temperatures will be in the keV range and the collisionality parameter with ?*???1 will define the operational conditions. Noninductive current drive will be a major element of the programme. The engineering design issues of Globus-M2 tokamak are discussed and the technical tokamak parameters are confirmed by thermal load and stress analysis simulations. The experimental results obtained on Globus-M2 and the limits of its performance should clarify the feasibility of an ST-based super compact neutron source.

The possibility of measuring fusion α-particle features using collective scattering from self-excited plasma eigenmodes is discussed. It is shown that the proper choice of the modes, namely the high-order ion Bernstein waves, allows us to determine density and mean energy of the hot ion minority with the use of present day CO2 lasers.

The possibility of measuring the fusion α‐particle features using the scattering from thermally excited eigenmodes has been analyzed in detail. A number of these modes are coupled predominantly to the fast‐ion minority. However, the standard fluctuation theory predicts that the intensity of thermally excited waves is proportional to the ‘‘temperature’’ of this fraction and is independent of its density. Such amounts of information are insufficient for the purpose of diagnostics. Different results are obtained if the effects of plasma inhomogeneity and nonlocal coupling of the observed (induced) electron density fluctuations with ‘‘bare’’ fluctuations are taken into account. Then the fluctuation intensity becomes density dependent and both the ‘‘temperature’’ and the relative density of the fast‐ion minority can be found from spectral measurements of the scattering signal. The best opportunity is provided by thermally excited ion Bernstein waves in the lower hybrid frequency region. This case was analyzed using an effective numerical code which takes into account gyrokinetic effects and treats α particles as magnetized. The results show that the above two parameters can be measured with the employment of present‐day laser technology.

Results of an experimental study of geodesic acoustic modes (GAM) in the TUMAN-3M tokamak are reported. With Doppler backscattering (DBS) the basic properties of the GAM such as frequency, conditions for the GAM existence and the GAM radial location have been identified. The two-frequency Doppler reflectometer system was employed to reveal an interplay between low frequency sheared poloidal rotation, ambient turbulence level and the GAM intensity. Bicoherence analysis of the DBS data evidences the presence of a nonlinear interaction between the GAM and plasma turbulence.