Observation of edge instability limiting the pedestal growth in Tokamak plasmas

A. Diallo, J. W. Hughes, M. Greenwald, B. Labombard, E. Davis, S. G. Baek, C. Theiler, P. Snyder, J. Canik, J. Walk, T. Golfinopoulos, J. Terry, M. Churchill, A. Hubbard, M. Porkolab, L. Delgado-Aparicio, M. L. Reinke, A. White

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

82 Scopus citations

Abstract

With fusion device performance hinging on the edge pedestal pressure, it is imperative to experimentally understand the physical mechanism dictating the pedestal characteristics and to validate and improve pedestal predictive models. This Letter reports direct evidence of density and magnetic fluctuations showing the stiff onset of an edge instability leading to the saturation of the pedestal on the Alcator C-Mod tokamak. Edge stability analyses indicate that the pedestal is unstable to both ballooning mode and kinetic ballooning mode in agreement with observations.

Original languageEnglish
Article number115001
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume112
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 17 2014

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Observation of edge instability limiting the pedestal growth in Tokamak plasmas'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this