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In recent moderate to high harmonic fast wave heating and current drive experiments in DIII-D, a synergy effect was observed when the 6th harmonic 90 MHz fast wave power is applied to the plasma preheated by neutral beams and the 4th harmonic 60 MHz fast wave. In this paper, we investigate how the synergy can occur using ORBIT-RF coupled with AORSA. Preliminary simulations suggest that damping of 4th harmonic FW on beam ions accelerates them above the injection energy, which may allow significant damping of 6th harmonic FW on beam ion tails to produce synergy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waves in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF) are widely used to heat toka-mak plasmas. In a multi-ion-species plasma, the FW converts to ion cyclotron waves (ICW) and ion Bernstein waves (IBW) around the ion-ion hybrid resonance (mode conversion). The mode converted wave is of interest as an actuator to optimise plasma performance through flow drive and current drive. Numerical simulations are essential to describe these processes accurately, and it is important that these simulation codes be validated. On Alcator C-Mod, direct measurements of the mode converted waves have been performed using Phase Contrast Imaging (PCI), which measures the line-integrated electron density fluctuations. The results were compared to full-wave simulations AORSA and TORIC. AORSA is coupled to a Fokker-Planck code CQL3D for self-consistent simulation of the wave electric field and the minority distribution function. The simulation results are compared to PCI measurements using synthetic diagnostic. The experiments were performed in D-H and D-3He plasmas over a wide range of ion species concentrations. The simulations agreed well with the measurements in the strong absorption regime. However, the measured fluctuation intensity was smaller by 1-2 orders of magnitudes in the weakly abosorbing regime, and a realistic description of the plasma edge including dissipation and antenna geometry may be required in these cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ELMs reduce the stored energy achieved with HHFW heating compared with the ELM free case as also occurs for NBI heating alone. This reduction can be attributed both to direct ELM ejection of stored energy and to an increase in edge density with ELMs that exceeds the onset density for perpendicular wave propagation near the antenna [1,2], and leads to significantly more edge RF power deposition. This latter effect causes a more intense RF 'hot' zone in the lower divertor scrape off region due to an increase in edge RF power propagating to the divertor from the antenna region along the magnetic field lines. Fast IR measurements of the direct ELM heat deposition at the lower divertor shows it to be peaked in the vicinity of the outer strike radius and to fall off strongly as the 'hot' zone is approached, indicating little direct ELM effect on the 'hot' zone heating. Physics studies of the 'hot' zone have begun with sweeping the RF 'hot' zone spiral over Rogowski instrumented divertor region tiles to show that the tile currents track the location of the zone. The relation of the results here to the AORSA RF code simulations including the SOL region is pointed out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

30 MHz high-harmonic fast wave (HHFW) heating and current drive are being developed to assist fully non-inductive plasma current (Ip) ramp-up in NSTX. The initial approach to achieving this goal has been to heat Ip = 300 kA inductive plasmas with current drive antenna phasing in order to generate an HHFW H-mode with significant bootstrap and RF-driven current. Recent experiments, using only 1.4 MW of RF power (PRF), achieved a non-inductive current fraction, fNI∼0.65. Improved antenna conditioning resulted in the generation of Ip = 650 kA HHFW H-mode plasmas, with fNI∼0.35, when PRF≥2.5 MW. These plasmas have little or no edge localized mode (ELM) activity during HHFW heating, a substantial increase in stored energy and a sustained central electron temperature of 5-6 keV. Another focus of NSTX HHFW research is to heat an H-mode generated by 90 keV neutral beam injection (NBI). Improved HHFW coupling to NBI-generated H-modes has resulted in a broad increase in electron temperature profile when HHFW heating is applied. Analysis of a closely matched pair of NBI and HHFW+NBI H-mode plasmas revealed that about half of the antenna power is deposited inside the last closed flux surface (LCFS). Of the power damped inside the LCFS about two-thirds is absorbed directly by electrons and one-third accelerates fast-ions that are mostly promptly lost from the plasma. At longer toroidal launch wavelengths, HHFW+NBI H-mode plasmas can have an RF power flow to the divertor outside the LCFS that significantly reduces RF power deposition to the core. ELMs can also reduce RF power deposition to the core and increase power deposition to the edge. Recent full wave modeling of NSTX HHFW+NBI H-mode plasmas, with the model extended to the vessel wall, predicts a coaxial standing mode between the LCFS and the wall that can have large amplitudes at longer launch wavelengths. These simulation results qualitatively agree with HHFW+NBI H-mode data that show decreasing core RF heating efficiency and increasing RF power flow to the lower divertor at longer launch wavelengths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of fast-ion distributions >100 Te is important for both ITER and a fusion reactor, as both will have a significant population of fusion-born alpha particles. Furthermore, energetic ions may display transport properties that differ from the bulk plasma. It is imperative to benchmark current simulation codes with measurements of highly energetic fast-ions on current devices. Experimental measurements of ICRF heated H-minority plasmas on Alcator C-Mod are performed with an upgraded Compact Neutral Particle Analyzer (CNPA). The CNPA consists of vertically-viewing photodiode detectors with viewing chords from r/a = ∼0.18 to 0.6 and energies from 150 keV to 1.5 MeV. The CNPA measurements are compared to the output of a synthetic diagnostic that has been added to the Fokker-Planck solver CQL3D. CQL3D is coupled with the full-wave solver AORSA to evolve a self-consistent fast-ion distribution. Good agreement is obtained between simulation and experiment for fast ion distributions that are in steady-state (df/dt = 0). However, there are discrepancies between the experimental and simulated results for the time-dependent evolution of the fast-ion distribution. A possible explanation of the discrepancy is due to violation of certain assumptions of quasi-linear theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent improvements in high-harmonic fast wave (HHFW) core heating in NSTX are attributed to using lithium conditioning, and other wall conditioning techniques, to move the onset density for perpendicular fast wave propagation further from the antenna. This has resulted in the first observation of HHFW core electron heating in deuterium plasma at a launched toroidal wavenumber, k[lowercase_phi_synonym] = -3 m-1, NSTX record core electron temperatures of 5 keV in helium and deuterium discharges and, for the first time, significant HHFW core electron heating of deuterium neutral-beam-fuelled H-mode plasmas. Also, k[lowercase_phi_synonym] = -8 m-1 heating of the plasma startup and plasma current ramp-up has resulted in significant core electron heating, even at central electron densities as low as ∼4×1018 m-3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of the high harmonic fast wave (HHFW) research on NSTX is to maximize the coupling of RF power to the core of the plasma by minimizing the coupling of RF power to edge loss processes. HHFW core plasma heating efficiency in helium and deuterium L-mode discharges is found to improve markedly on NSTX when the density 2 cm in front of the antenna is reduced below that for the onset of perpendicular wave propagation (nonset∝B*k|2/ω). In NSTX, the observed RF power losses in the plasma edge are driven in the vicinity of the antenna as opposed to resulting from multi-pass edge damping. PDI surface losses through ion-electron collisions are estimated to be significant. Recent spectroscopic measurements suggest that additional PDI losses could be caused by the loss of energetic edge ions on direct loss orbits and perhaps result in the observed clamping of the edge rotation. Initial deuterium H-mode heating studies reveal that core heating is degraded at lower k[lowercase_phi_synonym](-8 m-1 relative to 13 m-1) as for the L-mode case at elevated edge density. Fast visible camera images clearly indicate that a major edge loss process is occurring from the plasma scrape off layer (SOL) in the vicinity of the antenna and along the magnetic field lines to the lower outer divertor plate. Large type I ELMs, which are observed at both k[lowercase_phi_synonym] values, appear after antenna arcs caused by precursor blobs, low level ELMs, or dust. For large ELMs without arcs, the source reflection coefficients rise on a 0.1 ms time scale, which indicates that the time derivative of the reflection coefficient can be used to discriminate between arcs and ELMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To fully account for finite drift orbit effect of fast ions on wave-particle interaction in ion-cyclotron radio frequency (ICRF) heating experiments in tokamaks, the 5-D finite orbit Monte-Carlo plasma distribution solver ORBIT-RF is coupled with the 2-D full wave code AORSA in a self-consistent way. Comparison results of ORBIT-RF/AORSA simulation against fast-ion Dα (FIDA) measurement of fast-ion distribution as well as CQL3D/ray-tracing simulation with zero-orbit approximation in the DIII-D ICRF wave beam-ion acceleration experiment are presented. Preliminary ORBIT-RF/AORSA results suggest that finite orbit width effects may explain the outward radial shift of the spatial profile measured by FIDA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes physics research on wave-plasma interactions in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF) and the lower hybrid range of frequencies (LHRF) that takes advantage of advances in large scale computation as well as applied mathematics expertise. A combined Fokker-Planck and full-wave solver is used to simulate the interaction of ICRF waves with nonthermal ions generated by the wave itself, with fast ions from neutral beam injection (NBI), and with alpha particles from fusion processes. Finite ion drift orbit effects are included in this analysis through the use of a Monte Carlo approach. Models for simulating the linear and nonlinear interaction of an ICRF antenna with the tenuous edge plasma are also described. Finally we describe advances that have been made to perform a combined full-wave and Fokker Planck analysis of nonthermal electrons during LH current drive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The well developed linear theory of ICRF (including FW, HHFW and IBW) interactions with plasma has enjoyed considerable success in describing antenna coupling and wave propagation, and provides a well-known framework for calculating power absorption, current drive, etc. In some situations, less well studied nonlinear effects are of interest, such as flow drive, ponderomotive forces, rf sheaths, parametric decay and related interactions with the edge plasma. Standard ICRF codes have begun to integrate this physics to achieve improved modeling capabilities. This paper concentrates on basic rf-plasma-interaction physics with illustrative applications to tokamaks. For FW antennas, the parallel electric field near launching structures is known to drive rf-sheaths which can give rise to convective cells, interaction with plasma “blobs”, impurity production, and edge power dissipation. In addition to sheaths, IBW waves in the edge plasma are subject to strong ponderomotive effects and parametric decay. In the core plasma, slow waves can sometimes induce nonlinear effects. Mechanisms by which these waves can influence the radial electric field and its shear are summarized, and related to the general (reactive-ponderomotive and dissipative) force on a plasma from rf waves. It is argued that there are significant opportunities now for new predictive capabilities by advances in integrated simulation. © 2005 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most common method for treating wave propagation in tokamaks in the lower hybrid range of frequencies (LHRF) has been toroidal ray tracing, owing to the short wavelengths (relative to the system size) found in this regime. Although this technique provides an accurate description of 2D and 3D plasma inhomogeneity effects on wave propagation, the approach neglects important effects related to focusing, diffraction, and finite extent of the RF launcher. Also, the method breaks down at plasma cutoffs and caustics. Recent adaptation of full-wave electromagnetic field solvers to massively parallel computers has made it possible to accurately resolve wave phenomena in the LHRF. One such solver, the TORIC code, has been modified to simulate LH waves by implementing boundary conditions appropriate for coupling the fast electromagnetic and the slow electrostatic waves in the LHRF. In this frequency regime the plasma conductivity operator can be formulated in the limits of unmagnetized ions and strongly magnetized electrons, resulting in a relatively simple and explicit form. Simulations have been done for parameters typical of the planned LHRF experiments on Alcator C-Mod, demonstrating fully resolved fast and slow LH wave fields using a Maxwellian non-relativistic plasma dielectric. Significant spectral broadening of the injected wave spectrum and focusing of the wave fields have been found, especially at caustic surfaces. Comparisons with toroidal ray tracing have also been done and differences between the approaches have been found, especially for cases where wave caustics form. The possible role of this diffraction-induced spectral broadening in filling the spectral gap in LH heating and current drive will be discussed. © 2005 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]