A method for zonal flow study by using direct density fluctuation measurements is proposed. When ambient drift-wave turbulence is modulated by zonal flows (i.e. in the drift-wave-zonal flow systems), an envelope of the ambient density fluctuations has spectral peaks around zonal flow frequencies. A spectral peak at the geodesic acoustic mode (GAM) frequency is observed in the envelope of the ambient density fluctuations measured in edge plasma of the JFT-2M tokamak. The significant cross-bicoherence is also found between the ambient density fluctuations and its envelope in the GAM frequency. This result demonstrates that we can measure the GAM only by using density fluctuation data. This method provides a possibility of zonal flow research in burning core plasma by density fluctuation diagnostics such as microwave reflectometry.

Remarkable progress has been made in diagnosing energetic particle instabilities on presentday machines and in establishing a theoretical framework for describing them. This overview describes the much improved diagnostics of Alfvén instabilities and modelling tools developed world-wide, and discusses progress in interpreting the observed phenomena. A multi-machine comparison is presented giving information on the performance of both diagnostics and modelling tools for different plasma conditions outlining expectations for ITER based on our present knowledge.

This paper presents results of bispectral analysis applied to floating potential fluctuations in the edge region of ohmically heated plasmas in the JAERI Fusion Torus-2 Modified (JFT-2M) tokamak. Inside the outermost surface of plasmas, coherent mode fluctuations (CMs) in floating potential were observed around the frequency of the geodesic acoustic mode. The squared bicoherence shows significant nonlinear couplings between the CMs and background fluctuations. The biphase at the frequency of the CMs is localized around π , while that at frequencies of background fluctuations distributes in a wide range. The total bicoherence at the frequency of the CMs is proportional to the squared amplitude of the CMs. These observations are consistent with the theoretical prediction on the drift wave-zonal flow systems. Interpretation of the absolute value of the total bicoherence is also discussed.

Abstract. Dynamics of ion internal transport barrier (ITB) formation and impurity transport both in the LargeHelical Device (LHD) heliotron and JT-60U tokamak are described. Significant differences between heliotron and tokamak plasmas are observed. The location of the ITB moves outward during the ITB formation regardless of the sign of magnetic shear in JT-60U and the ITB becomes more localized in the plasma with negative magnetic shear. In LHD, the low T e /T i ratio ( < 1) of the target plasma for the high power heating is found to be necessary condition to achieve the ITB plasma and the ITB location tends to expand outward or inward depending on the condition of the target plasmas. Associated with the formation of ITB, the carbon density tends to be peaked due to inward convection in JT-60U, while the carbon density becomes hollow due to outward convection in LHD. The outward convection observed in LHD contradicts the prediction by neoclassical theory.

The mission of the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) is the demonstration of the physics basis required to extrapolate to the next steps for the spherical torus (ST), such as a plasma facing component test facility (NHTX) or an ST based component test facility (ST-CTF), and to support ITER. Key issues for the ST are transport, and steady state high β operation. To better understand electron transport, a new high-k scattering diagnostic was used extensively to investigate electron gyro-scale fluctuations with varying electron temperature gradient scale length. Results from n = 3 braking studies are consistent with the flow shear dependence of ion transport. New results from electron Bernstein wave emission measurements from plasmas with lithium wall coating applied indicate transmission efficiencies near 70% in H-mode as a result of reduced collisionality. Improved coupling of high harmonic fast-waves has been achieved by reducing the edge density relative to the critical density for surface wave coupling. In order to achieve high bootstrap current fraction, future ST designs envision running at very high elongation. Plasmas have been maintained on NSTX at very low internal inductance l i ∼ 0.4 with strong shaping (κ ∼ 2.7, δ ∼ 0.8) with β N approaching the with-wall β-limit for several energy confinement times. By operating at lower collisionality in this regime, NSTX has achieved record non-inductive current drive fraction f NI ∼ 71%. Instabilities driven by super-Alfvénic ions will be an important issue for all burning plasmas, including ITER. Fast ions from NBI on NSTX are super-Alfvénic. Linear toroidal Alfvén eigenmode thresholds and appreciable fast ion loss during multi-mode bursts are measured and these results are compared with theory. The impact of n > 1 error fields on stability is an important result for ITER. Resistive wall mode/resonant field amplification feedback combined with n = 3 error field control was used on NSTX to maintain plasma rotation with β above the no-wall limit. Other highlights are results of lithium coating experiments, momentum confinement studies, scrape-off layer width scaling, demonstration of divertor heat load mitigation in strongly shaped plasmas and coupling of coaxial helicity injection plasmas to ohmic heating ramp-up. These results advance the ST towards next step fusion energy devices such as NHTX and ST-CTF.