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The development of reduced models provide efficient methods that can be used to perform short term experimental data analysis or narrow down the parametric range of more sophisticated numerical approaches. Reduced models are derived by simplifying the physics description with the goal of retaining only the essential ingredients required to reproduce the phenomena under study. This is the role of the gyro-fluid code FAR3d, dedicated to analyze the linear and nonlinear stability of Alfvén Eigenmodes (AE), Energetic Particle Modes (EPM) and magnetic-hydrodynamic modes as pressure gradient driven mode (PGDM) and current driven modes (CDM) in nuclear fusion devices. Such analysis is valuable for improving the plasma heating efficiency and confinement; this can enhance the overall device performance. The present review is dedicated to a description of the most important contributions of the FAR3d code in the field of energetic particles (EP) and AE/EPM stability. FAR3d is used to model and characterize the AE/EPM activity measured in fusion devices as LHD, JET, DIII-D, EAST, TJ-II and Heliotron J. In addition, the computational efficiency of FAR3d facilitates performing massive parametric studies leading to the identification of optimization trends with respect to the AE/EPM stability. This can aid in identifying operational regimes where AE/EPM activity is avoided or minimized. This technique is applied to the analysis of optimized configurations with respect to the thermal plasma parameters, magnetic field configuration, external actuators and the effect of multiple EP populations. In addition, the AE/EPM saturation phase is analyzed, taking into account both steady-state phases and bursting activity observed in LHD and DIII-D devices. The nonlinear calculations provide: the induced EP transport, the generation of zonal structures as well as the energy transfer towards the thermal plasma and between different toroidal/helical families. Finally, FAR3d is used to forecast the AE/EPM stability in operational scenarios of future devices as ITER, CFETR, JT60SA and CFQS as well as possible approaches to optimization with respect to variations in the most important plasma parameters.

A pellet-induced enhanced confinement (PiEC) phase, with general characteristics similar to those reported for the stellarator W7-X, is observed after single pellet injection (>10 ^19 H atoms) into the neutral beam injection heated phase of plasmas in the mid-sized heliac-type stellarator TJ-II. In addition to a step-like increase in density, plasma diamagnetic energy content rises significantly with respect to that of reference discharges, energy confinement time is similarly enhanced when compared to International Stellarator Scaling law predictions (Yamada et al 2005 Nucl. Fusion 45 1684) renormalized for TJ-II, and the triple product, n _e · T _i · τ _E , exhibits a clear bifurcation towards an improved confinement branch when compared to the branch product predicted by the same law. In this work, multiple pellets are injected in series into NBI-heated plasmas in the TJ-II and post-injection plasma performance is reported and discussed. For instance, a charge-exchange recombination spectroscopy diagnostic reveals significantly increased core ion temperatures after pellet injection compared to temperatures achieved in comparable reference plasmas, this pointing to increased ion energy content and improved ion energy confinement during a PiEC phase. It is also found that enhanced performance is independent of whether co- or counter-NBI heating beam is employed. Finally, record stored diamagnetic energy content and plasma beta values are achieved when the largest available pellets are employed. The results indicate that pellet injections extend the operational regime well beyond limits previously achieved in TJ-II without pellets.

The most relevant features of FLIPEC (Free fLow Iterative Plasma Equilibrium Code) are presented. This new code iteratively calculates free-boundary, axisymmetric ideal MHD equilibria with arbitrary poloidal and toroidal plasma flows. FLIPEC is a mature code that has emerged from a complete overhaul of a previous version (F-Torija Daza 2022 et al Nucl. Fusion 62 126044). It uses a (inverse) curvilinear coordinate representation for the Grad–Shafranov–Bernoulli equation system, which allows FLIPEC to extend its free-boundary capabilities to arbitrary plasma shapes and removes many limitations with regards to the distance between plasma and external coils. Run-time stabilization of vertical modes has also been implemented by means of artificial feedback coils. Finally, active targeting schemes have also been included. These capabilities are illustrated on two very different cases: the ITER tokamak baseline configuration and a NSTX spherical tokamak equilibrium.

We provide an overview of activities carried out at the TJ-II stellarator for improving our understanding of- and developing plasma physics models for particle density profiles in stellarators. Namely, we report on recent progress in turbulent particle transport simulation, validation of pellet deposition models, density profile shaping for performance control and new experimental techniques for edge turbulence and plasma-neutral interaction.

Abstract Radial plasma potential profiles have been obtained in the TJ-II by the Heavy Ion Beam Probing (HIBP) diagnostics. Results show that the potential increases up to 1 kV near the magnetic axis in ECRH low-density plasmas. The secondary ion current profiles, which directly reflect the plasma density, are hollow. In low-density ECRH operation, radial electric fields are found to be positive in the plasma core, however, a reduction in these fields is observed with increasing density. Radial plasma potential profiles show evidence of structures in configurations with low-order rational surfaces. In particular, HIBP measurements have permitted characterization of the plasma potential profile during e-ITB formation. Experiments in TJ-II have shown that it is possible to modify the global confinement and edge plasma parameters with limiter biasing, illustrating the direct impact of radial electric fields on confinement properties. Plasma potential measurements by the HIBP diagnostic show a strong impact of heating method (ECRH versus NBI) on radial electric fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The confinement of α-particles is vital for any future fusion reactor. Unfortunately, the inevitable appearance of inhomogeneities in the magnetic field activates the non-collisional transport by virtue of ripple trapping and ripple induced stochastization. While a large and growing body of literature is devoted to the mitigation of these channels of losses for future reactor designs, far too little attention has been paid to characterize the statistical nature of the underlying stochastic process, which is generally assumed to be diffusive. Here the effect of breaking the toroidal symmetry on collisionless α-particle transport is analyzed numerically with a guiding center orbit following code MOCA for several configurations: a perfectly toroidally symmetric ITER-like tokamak and four stellarators with different levels of quasi-toroidal symmetry. Statistical characterization of banana widths, bouncing times and banana center evolution put into question the classical convection/diffusion approach to adequately describe collisionless α-particle transport as the magnetic configuration departs from toroidal symmetry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recently developed free-plasma-boundary version of the SIESTA MHD equilibrium code (Hirshman et al 2011 Phys. Plasmas18 062504; Peraza-Rodriguez et al 2017 Phys. Plasmas24 082516) is used for the first time to study scenarios with considerable bootstrap currents for the Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) stellarator. Bootstrap currents in the range of tens of kAs can lead to the formation of unwanted magnetic island chains or stochastic regions within the plasma and alter the boundary rotational transform due to the small shear in W7-X. The latter issue is of relevance since the island divertor operation of W7-X relies on a proper positioning of magnetic island chains at the plasma edge to control the particle and energy exhaust towards the divertor plates. Two scenarios are examined with the new free-plasma-boundary capabilities of SIESTA: a freely evolving bootstrap current one that illustrates the difficulties arising from the dislocation of the boundary islands, and a second one in which off-axis electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD) is applied to compensate the effects of the bootstrap current and keep the island divertor configuration intact. SIESTA finds that off-axis ECCD is indeed able to keep the location and phase of the edge magnetic island chain unchanged, but it may also lead to an undesired stochastization of parts of the confined plasma if the EC deposition radial profile becomes too narrow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous observation exist of a population of high energetic ions with energies well above the corresponding thermal values in plasmas generated by electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) heating in TJ-II stellarator and in other magnetically confined plasmas devices. In this work we study the impact of ECR heating different conditions (positions and powers) on fast ions escaping from plasmas in the TJ-II stellarator. For this study, an ion luminescent probe operated in counting mode is used to measure the energy distribution of suprathermal ions, in the range from 1 to 30 keV. It is observed that some suprathermal ions characteristics (such as temperature, particle and energy fluxes) are related directly with the gyrotron power and focus position of the heating beam in the plasma. Moreover, it is found that suprathermal ion characteristics vary during a magnetic configuration scan (performed along a single discharge). By investigating the suprathermal ions escaping from plasmas generated using two gyrotrons, one with fixed power and the other modulated (on/off) at low frequency (10 Hz), the de-confinement time of the suprathermal ions can be measured, which is of the order of a few milliseconds (<4 ms). A model that uses a zero-dimensional power balance is used to understand the de-confinement times in terms of the interaction of suprathermal ions and plasma components. This model also can be used to interpret experimental results of energy loss due to suprathermal ions. Finally, observations of increases (peaks) in the population of escaping suprathermal ions, which are well localized at discrete energies, is documented, these peaks being observed in the energy distributions along a discharge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During heating, by neutral beam injection, of magnetically confined plasmas in the TJ-II stellarator broad spectral structures, that straddle intense emission lines from multiply ionized oxygen ions, are observed by a normal-incidence spectrometer viewing a plasma region well separated from the neutral beam/plasma interaction volume. These features are seen to appear and to disappear shortly after neutral beam switch-on and switch-off, respectively. After excluding other possible origins it is demonstrated that their source is fast oxygen ions that originate as accelerated H2O and H3O ions in the ion sources of the neutral beam injectors. Next, discussions on how fast multiply ionized ions can perform multiple toroidal transits about this device, thereby giving rise to the spectral structures observed, are presented. Finally, implications of these emissions for spectral analysis and interpretation of spectra in hot magnetically confined plasmas are addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A systematic study of scintillation materials was undertaken to improve the time resolution of the fast ion diagnostic currently installed at TJ-II stellarator. It was found that YAP:Ce (formula YAlO 3 :Ce, Yttrium Aluminum Perovskite doped with Cerium) ionoluminescence offers better sensitivity and time response compared to the standard detector material, SrGa 2 S 4 :Eu (TG-Green), currently used in TJ-II. A comparison between both materials was carried out by irradiating them with H + ions of up to 40 keV using a dedicated laboratory setup. It is found that for the low energy ions of interest at TJ-II, YAP:Ce offers 20 times higher sensitivity than TG-Green and much faster decay time, 27 ns versus 540 ns. It is expected that the use of YAP:Ce in combination with a faster data acquisition and an ion counting software as part of the TJ-II ion luminescent probe will provide 20 times faster data on ion loss.

A Doppler reflectometer system has recently been installed in the stellarator TJ-II. The system is optimized for the Q-band (33-50 GHz) and the high-curvature plasmas produced in TJ-II. The launch angle of the microwave beam can be controlled by a steerable mirror to obtain angles between +/-20 degrees enabling the measurement of perpendicular wave numbers in the range of 3-15 cm(-1). The available angular range allows for comparisons between positive and negative values and additionally for calibration of the system. Localization and k(perpendicular)-estimation is done via the three-dimensional ray/beam-tracing code TRUBA. First measured spectra and radial profiles of the perpendicular velocity of plasma density fluctuations are presented.

Fine structures are found in the TJ-II stellarator electron temperature and density profiles, when they are measured using a high spatial resolution Thomson scattering system. These structures consist of peaks and valleys superimposed to a smooth average. Some irregularities remain in an ensemble average of discharges with similar macroscopic parameters such as line density, central temperature, and plasma current. They are found in all the magnetic configurations explored in plasmas heated by electron cyclotron waves. Their characteristics are shown and their possible origin is discussed.