Triggered confinement enhancement and pedestal expansion in high-confinement-mode discharges in the national spherical torus experiment

R. Maingi, R. E. Bell, J. M. Canik, S. P. Gerhardt, S. M. Kaye, B. P. Leblanc, T. H. Osborne, M. G. Bell, E. D. Fredrickson, K. C. Lee, J. E. Menard, J. K. Park, S. A. Sabbagh

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Abstract

We report observation of a new high performance regime in discharges in the National Spherical Torus Experiment, where the H mode edge "pedestal" temperature doubles and the energy confinement increases by 50%. The spontaneous transition is triggered by a large edge-localized mode, either natural or externally triggered by 3D fields. The transport barrier grows inward from the edge, with a doubling of both the pedestal pressure width and the spatial extent of steep radial electric field shear. The dynamics suggest that 3D fields could be applied to reduce edge transport in fusion devices.

Original languageEnglish
Article number135004
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume105
Issue number13
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 22 2010

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