Suppression of the m/n = 2/1 tearing mode by electron cyclotron resonance heating on J-TEXT

Abstract

Abstract Stabilization of tearing modes and neoclassical tearing modes is of great importance for tokamak operation. Electron cyclotron waves (ECWs) have been extensively used to stabilize the tearing modes with the virtue of highly localized power deposition. Complete suppression of the m/n = 2/1 tearing mode (TM) by electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) has been achieved successfully on the J-TEXT tokamak. The effects of ECW deposition location and power amplitude on the 2/1 TM suppression have been investigated. It is found that the suppression is more effective when the ECW power is deposited closer to the rational surface. As the ECW power increases to approximately 230 kW, the 2/1 TM can be completely suppressed. The island rotation frequency is increased when the island width is reduced. The experimental results show that the local heating inside the magnetic island and the resulting temperature perturbation increase at the O-point of the island play dominant roles in TM suppression. As the ECW power increases, the 2/1 island is suppressed to smaller island width, and the flow shear also plays a stabilizing effect on small magnetic islands. With the stabilizing contribution of heating and flow shear, the 2/1 TM can be completely suppressed.