Neutral beams were injected into low field (B = 0.7-1.0 T) deuterium plasmas in an attempt to destabilize toroidicity induced Alfve'n eigenmodes (TAE modes). When the parallel beam velocity approached the Alfve'n velocity and the volume averaged beam beta exceeded 2%, localized, propagating modes with n = 2-10 were observed. As much as 45% of the beam power was lost as a result of the modes. The threshold for TAE instability is at least one order of magnitude higher than that predicted by Fu and VanDam (Phys. Fluids B 1 (1989) 1949).

This paper describes the design and operation of a 40 spatial channel Thomson scattering system that uses multiple 20-Hz Nd:YAG lasers to measure the electron temperature and density profiles periodically throughout an entire plasma discharge. As many as eight lasers may be fired alternately for an average measurement frequency of 160 Hz, or they may be fired in rapid succession (<10 kHz), producing a burst of pulses for measuring transient events. The high spatial resolution (1.3 cm) and wide dynamic range (10 eV–20 keV) enable this system to resolve large electron density and temperature gradients formed at the plasma edge and in the scrape-off layer during H-mode operation. These features provide a formidable tool for studying L–H transitions, edge localized modes (ELMs), beta limits, transport, and disruptions in an efficient manner suitable for large tokamak operation where shot-to-shot scans are impractical. The scattered light is dispersed by interference filter polychromators and detected by silicon avalanche photodiodes. Laser control and data acquisition are performed in real time by a VME-based microcomputer. Data analysis is performed by a MicroVAX 3400. Additional features of this system include real-time analysis capability, full statistical treatment of error bars based on the measured background light, and laser beam quality and alignment monitoring during plasma operation. Results of component testing, calibration, plasma operation, and error analysis are presented.

Experimental evidence is reported of an internal kink instability driven by a new mechanism: barely trapped suprathermal electrons produced by off-axis electron cyclotron heating on the DIII-D tokamak. It occurs in plasmas with an evolving safety factor profile q(r) when q(min) approaches 1. This instability is most active when ECCD is applied on the high field side of the flux surface. It has a bursting behavior with poloidal/toroidal mode number = m/n = 1/1. In positive magnetic shear plasmas, this mode becomes the fishbone instability. This observation can be qualitatively explained by the drift reversal of the barely trapped suprathermal electrons.

No abstract

Interferometer measurements on Doublet III indicate that a region of high-density cold plasma exists near the inside limiter. This cold plasma region appears above a certain threshold density in the main plasma and can be more than five times the average plasma density. The formation of the high-density cold region occurs somewhat before the maximum achievable plasma density.