Thermal transport barrier in heliotron-type devices (Large Helical Device and Compact Helical System)

In the discharges of the Large Helical Device [O. Motojima et al., Proceedings of the 16th Conference on Fusion Energy, Montreal, 1996 (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1997), Vol. 3, p. 437], a significant enhancement of the energy confinement has been achieved with an edge thermal transport barrier, which exhibits a sharp gradient at the edge. Key features associated with the barrier are quite different from those seen in tokamaks (i) almost no change in particle (including impurity) transport, (ii) a gradual formation of the barrier, (iii) a very high ratio of the edge temperature to the average temperature, (iv) no edge relaxation phenomenon. In the electron cyclotron heating (ECH) heated discharges in the Compact Helical System [K. Matsuoka et al., in Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Plasma Physics and Controlled Nuclear Fusion Research, Nice, France, 1988 (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1989), Vol. 2, p. 411], the internal electron transport barrier has been observed, which enhances the central electron temperature significantly. High shear of the radial electric field appears to suppress the turbulence in the core region and enhance the electron confinement there.