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A description and transport analysis (energy and particles) of neutral beam heated plasmas is shown for two almost identical magnetic configurations except for a ≈1% difference in their rotational transform, .... Due to the low magnetic shear of TJ-II magnetic fields, such difference takes the low order rational ... = 8/5 to the plasma edge in one of them, while in the other the 8/5 value is near the edge but inside the plasma. A transport transition happens at lower density and plasma energy for the configuration that includes the ... = 8/5, which exhibits better particle confinement already before the transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The well known He beam diagnostic, able to provide profiles of the electronic plasma edge parameters, has undergone a significant improvement by the application of supersonic expansion techniques in the last years. The use of pulsed fast piezoelectric valves was initiated in the TJ-IU and implemented in the TJ-II stellarators. In its former configuration the repetition rate of the beam was ultimately limited in the expansion chamber by the pressure buildup. In the actual upgraded version, however, a repetition rate up to 200 Hz can be achieved, and the recording of the electron temperature and density profiles with millisecond resolution is possible. In the present work, the technical development of the diagnostic required for optimized performance is described. In addition, the validation of the collisional–radiative model needed for the reconstruction of the edge profiles and the analysis of the complementary information given by the beam attenuation is also addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]