Particle pinch with fully noninductive lower hybrid current drive in Tore Supra

Phys Rev Lett. 2003 Apr 18;90(15):155002. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.155002. Epub 2003 Apr 16.

Abstract

Recently, plasmas exceeding 4 min have been obtained with lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) in Tore Supra. These LHCD plasmas extend for over 80 times the resistive current diffusion time with zero loop voltage. Under such unique conditions the neoclassical particle pinch driven by the toroidal electric field vanishes. Nevertheless, the density profile remains peaked for more than 4 min. For the first time, the existence of an inward particle pinch in steady-state plasma without toroidal electric field, much larger than the value predicted by the collisional neoclassical theory, is experimentally demonstrated.