Sawtooth pacing by real-time auxiliary power control in a tokamak plasma

In the standard scenario of tokamak plasma operation, sawtooth crashes are the main perturbations that can trigger performance-degrading, and potentially disruption-generating, neoclassical tearing modes. This Letter demonstrates sawtooth pacing by real-time control of the auxiliary power. It is sho...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPhysical review letters Vol. 106; no. 24; p. 245002
Main Authors Goodman, T P, Felici, F, Sauter, O, Graves, J P
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 17.06.2011
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Summary:In the standard scenario of tokamak plasma operation, sawtooth crashes are the main perturbations that can trigger performance-degrading, and potentially disruption-generating, neoclassical tearing modes. This Letter demonstrates sawtooth pacing by real-time control of the auxiliary power. It is shown that the sawtooth crash takes place in a reproducible manner shortly after the removal of that power, and this can be used to precisely prescribe, i.e., pace, the individual sawteeth. In combination with preemptive stabilization of the neoclassical tearing modes, sawtooth pacing provides a new sawtooth control paradigm for improved performance in burning plasmas.
ISSN:1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.245002