TJ-II:Internal Transport Barriers
The influence of magnetic topology on the formation of electron internal transport barriers (e-ITBs) has been studied experimentally in electron cyclotron heated plasmas in the stellarator TJ-II. e-ITB formation is characterized by an increase in core electron temperature and plasma potential. The positive radial electric field increases by a factor of 3 in the central plasma region when an e-ITB forms. Experiments demonstrate that the formation of an e-ITB depends on the magnetic configuration. Calculations of the modification of the rotational transform due to plasma current lead to the interpretation that the formation of an e-ITB can be triggered by positioning a low order rational surface close to the plasma core region. [1]
Transitions to improved core electron heat confinement are triggered by low order rational magnetic surfaces in TJ-II electron cyclotron heated (ECH) plasmas. Experiments are performed changing the magnetic shear around the rational surface n = 3/m = 2 to study its influence on the transition; ECH power modulation is used to look at transport properties. The improvement in the electron heat confinement shows no obvious dependence on the magnetic shear. Transitions triggered by the rational surface n = 4/m = 2 show, in addition, an increase in the ion temperature synchronized with the increase in the electron temperature. [2]