Fast Low-to-High Confinement Mode Bifurcation Dynamics in a Tokamak Edge Plasma Gyrokinetic Simulation.
Transport barrier formation and its relation to sheared flows in fluids and plasmas are of fundamental interest in various natural and laboratory observations and of critical importance in achieving an economical energy production in a magnetic fusion device. Here we report the first observation of an edge transport barrier formation event in an electrostatic gyrokinetic simulation carried out in a realistic diverted tokamak edge geometry under strong forcing by a high rate of heat deposition. The results show that turbulent Reynolds-stress-driven sheared E×B flows act in concert with neoclassical orbit loss to quench turbulent transport and form a transport barrier just inside the last closed magnetic flux surface.
L–H threshold studies in NSTX
Recent experiments in the low aspect ratio National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) have been run in support of the high priority ITER and ITPA issue of access to the H-mode. Specifically, a series of experiments showed reduced power threshold values for deuterium versus helium plasmas, and for plasmas with lower current, lower triangularity and with lithium conditioning. Application of n = 3 fields at the plasma edge resulted in higher power thresholds. To within the constraints of temporal and spatial resolutions, no systematic difference in Te, ne, pe, Ti, v or their derivatives was found in discharges that transitioned into the H-mode versus those at slightly lower power that did not. Finally, H98y,2 ∼ 1 confinement quality could be achieved for powers just above the threshold power in ELM-free conditions.
Strategies for glass based photonic system integration
There is a clear tendency to integrate more and more opto-electronic and micro-optical components like optical fibers, laser diodes, modulators, isolators, beam-splitting components and micro lenses in also increasingly dense and complex assemblies. The paper will discuss thin glass as a very promising base material for that kind of photonic packaging on interposer and board level including optical interconnection using fibers.