Disruptions, induced in Aditya tokamak by hydrogen gas puffing, are successfully mitigated through stabilization of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) modes by applying a bias voltage to an electrode placed inside the last-closed flux surface prior to the gas injection. Above a threshold voltage sheared E r × B φ rotation of the plasma generated by the edge biasing leads to substantial reduction in the growth of MHD modes (m/n = 3/1, 2/1), which causes avoidance of disruptions through prevention of mode overlapping and subsequent ergodization of magnetic field lines.

In the Saskatchewan torus-modified (STOR-M) tokamak, tangential compact torus injection (CTI) experiments have been performed with normal (counter-clockwise, CCW, top view) and reversed (clockwise, CW, top view) plasma current directions while the compact torus (CT) injection direction remains in the CCW direction. The intrinsic toroidal flow direction reverses when the discharge current is reversed. However, the change in the toroidal flow direction is always toward the CTI direction (CCW). It has been determined that the momentum in high density and high velocity CT is more than ten times larger than the intrinsic toroidal rotation momentum in the typical STOR-M plasma. Therefore, the modification of the plasma toroidal rotation velocity is attributed to momentum transfer from CT to the tokamak discharge.

The Magnetized Plasma Linear Experimental (MaPLE) device is a low cost laboratory plasma device at Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics fabricated in-house with the primary aim of studying basic plasma physics phenomena such as plasma instabilities, wave propagation, and their nonlinear behavior in magnetized plasma regime in a controlled manner. The machine is specially designed to be a versatile laboratory device that can provide a number of magnetic and electric scenario to facilitate such studies. A total of 36 number of 20-turn magnet coils, designed such as to allow easy handling, is capable of producing a uniform, dc magnetic field of about 0.35 T inside the plasma chamber of diameter 0.30 m. Support structure of the coils is planned in an innovative way facilitating straightforward fabrication and easy positioning of the coils. Further special feature lies in the arrangement of the spacers between the coils that can be maneuvered rather easily to create different magnetic configurations. Various methods of plasma production can be suitably utilized according to the experimental needs at either end of the vacuum vessel. In the present paper, characteristics of a steady state plasma generated by electron cyclotron resonance method using 2.45 GHz microwave power are presented. Scans using simple probe drives revealed that a uniform and long plasma column having electron density approximately 3-5x10(10) cm(-3) and temperature approximately 7-10 eV, is formed in the center of the plasma chamber which is suitable for wave launching experiments.

Improvement of plasma confinement is achieved in normal qa discharges of SINP-tokamak by introducing a biased electrode inside the last closed flux surface. All the important features of high confinement mode are observed biasing the electrode negatively with respect to the vacuum vessel. Arrays of electric and magnetic probes introduced in the edge plasma region reveal suppression of electric and magnetic fluctuations over distinct frequency ranges as well as modification of the toroidal current profile due to biasing. Further analysis identifies the electrostatic fluctuations to be due to drift mode and the magnetic fluctuations may be of slow compressional Alfven waves. Both get suppressed due to current profile modification during biasing, hence leading to the improvement of plasma confinement.

Excitation of low frequency drift waves in a radial region of a weak density gradient is demonstrated experimentally by strong temporal modulation of the plasma density. Though a parallel electron current can destabilize drift waves throughout the region, we observe mode selection at the resonant location matching the frequency of modulation. Parametric mode-mode interaction among two excited drift modes to destabilize a higher frequency one is reported under the specific condition of the growth rate. Theoretically estimated growth rates fit well with the experiment.