Complete suppression of the m = 2/n = 1 neoclassical tearing mode using electron cyclotron current drive in DIII-D

The first suppression of the important and deleterious m = 2/n = 1 neoclassical tearing mode (NTM) is reported using electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD) to replace the 'missing' bootstrap current in the island O-point. Experiments on the DIII-D tokamak verify that the maximum shrinkage of the m = 2/n = 1 island occurs when the ECCD location coincides with the q = 2 surface. The DIII-D plasma control system is put into a 'search and suppress' mode to make small changes in the toroidal field to find and lock onto the optimum position, based on real time measurements of dB_θ/dt, for complete m = 2/n = 1 NTM suppression by ECCD. The requirements of the ECCD for complete island suppression are well modelled by the modified Rutherford equation for the DIII-D plasma conditions.