A high-resolution imaging x-ray crystal spectrometer is described for implementation on the EAST tokamak to provide spatially and temporally resolved data on the ion temperature, electron temperature and poloidal plasma rotation. These data are derived from observations of the satellite spectra of helium-like argon, Ar XVII, which is the dominant charge state for electron temperatures in the range from 0.4 to 3.0 keV and which is accessible to EAST. Employing a novel design, which is based on the imaging properties of spherically bent crystals, the spectrometers will provide spectrally and spatially resolved images of the plasma for all experimental conditions, which include ohmically heated discharges as well as plasmas with rf and neutral-beam heating. The experimental setup and initial experimental results are presented.

A toroidal Alfvén eigenmode (TAE) excited by barely trapped energetic electrons during the application of a static magnetic perturbations (MPs) is observed for the first time in tokamak ohmic heating plasmas. This TAE appears when the current of a static n  =  2 MPs exceeds a threshold value, at which a forced n  =  2 magnetic reconnection happens. Here, n is the toroidal mode number. This TAE is located near the plasma edge, which agrees with the calculation of the TAE gap. It propagates in the ion diamagnetic direction and has a dominant toroidal mode number n  =  2. The frequency of the TAE is consistent with the precessional frequency of the barely trapped energetic electrons with energy around 150 keV. An increase of the hard x-ray emission intensity in this energy range is observed just after the n  =  2 magnetic reconnection. The energetic electrons may be accelerated by the magnetic islands formed after reconnection. The TAE is stabilized after a reduction in the contents of energetic electrons. This observation suggests that the application of static MPs may provide us with a novel method to actively control Alfvén eigenmodes in fusion plasmas.

First lithium coating associated with ion cyclotron range of frequency (ICRF) plasma was performed successfully in EAST. Results in reduction of both residual impurity and deuterium in the vacuum vessel were obtained. Particularly the partial pressure of deuterium after the lithium coating was reduced by about a factor of 5. Impurity radiation in the plasma was reduced and electron temperature increased by about 50%. Moreover, reproducible plasma discharges with high parameters, such as higher plasma current and density, could be easily obtained. These results showed that plasma performance was improved. Even though only 2 g of lithium were injected, the effective lifetime of the Li film was raised up to 40 shots.