Tokamak Plasmas with Density up to 10 Times the Greenwald Limit

Phys Rev Lett. 2024 Aug 2;133(5):055101. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.055101.

Abstract

Current-carrying, toroidal laboratory plasmas typically cannot be sustained with an electron density above the empirical Greenwald limit. Presented here are tokamak experiments in the Madison Symmetric Torus with a density up to an unprecedented level about 10 times this limit. This is thought to be made possible in part by a thick, stabilizing, conductive wall, and a high-voltage, feedback-controlled power supply driving the plasma current. The radial profile of the toroidal current flattens around twice the limit, without the edge collapse routinely observed in other experiments.