Impact of magnetic islands on plasma flow and turbulence in W7-X

Abstract

The effect of magnetic islands on plasma flow and turbulence has been experimentally investigated in the stellarator W7-X. Magnetic configurations with the 5/5 magnetic island positioned at the plasma edge, inside the last closed flux surface, are studied. The main diagnostic used in the present work is a V-band Doppler reflectometer that allows the measurement of the perpendicular plasma flow and density fluctuations with good spatial resolution. A characteristic signature of the 5/5 magnetic island is clearly detected in the perpendicular flow profile. The comparison of the experimental flow and the neoclassically driven $E\times B$ flow indicates that the island contribution to the flow is maximum at the island boundaries and close to zero at the island O-point. Besides, a reduction in the density fluctuation level is found nearby the island O-point. The similarities between these observations and those found in other devices and in gyrokinetic simulations are discussed.

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References in corpus (2)

• Radial electric field and density fluctuations measured by Doppler reflectometry during the post-pellet enhanced confinement phase in W7-X
• Fast simulations for large aspect ratio stellarators with the neoclassical code KNOSOS

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Gyrokinetic simulations of the effects of magnetic islands on microturbulence in KSTAR
• H-mode transition in the TJ-II stellarator plasmas
• On the interaction between the island divertor heat fluxes, the scrape-off layer radial electric field and the edge turbulence in Wendelstein 7-X plasmas
• Velocity modulations in view of the elliptical approach at Wendelstein 7-X