Sawtooth stabilization by electron cyclotron heating at the q=1 surface in the WT-3 tokamak

Sawtooth oscillations (STO) in the Ohmically heated (OH) WT-3 tokamak [Plasma Physics and Controlled Nuclear Fusion Research 1988 (IAEA, Vienna, 1989), Vol. 1, p. 563] are strongly modified or suppressed by localized electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECH) near the q = 1 surface, where q refers to the safety factor. The effect of ECH is much stronger when it is applied on the high-field side, as compared to the low-field side. Complete suppression of the STO is achieved for the duration of the ECH when it is applied on the high-field side, in a low-density plasma, provided the ECH power exceeds a threshold value. This threshold decreases with the increasing safety factor at the limiter q_L and the complete stabilization of STO can be obtained even when ECH is applied on the low-field side in the high-q_L region. It is noticeable that these complete stabilizations can be obtained only by the localized ECH with the elliptic antenna. The STO stabilization is attributed to a modification of the current density profile by high-energy electrons generated by ECH, which reduces the shear in the q = 1 region.