APFA – 2007

Effect of edge ergodic magnetic field layer on CIII to CVI

emissions in LHD

Malay Bikas Chowdhuri1*, Shigeru Morita2 and Motoshi Goto2

1
Department of Fusion Science, Graduate University for Advanced Studies,
Toki 509-5292, Gifu, Japan
2
National Institute for Fusion Science, Toki 509-5292, Gifu, Japan

Abstract: Carbon emissions have been analyzed to understand the edge impurity transport and
related radiation properties in Large Helical Device (LHD) with edge stochastic magnetic field
structure called ‘ergodic layer’. For this purpose, four resonance transitions of CIII (977.03Å: 2s2
1
S0-2s2p 1P1), CIV (1550Å: 2s 2S-2p 2P), CV (40.27Å: 1s2 1S0-1s2p 1P1) and CVI (33.73Å: 1s 2S-2p 2P)
have been observed in VUV and EUV ranges. It has been found that the CIII and CIV radiations
monotonically increase with electron density, ne, but the CV and CVI radiations are almost constant
with ne. The intensity ratio of CV+CVI to CIII+CIV therefore decreases in two orders of magnitude
with the increase of ne in the range of 1-8×1019m-3. The reason is appeared in the edge Te and ne
profiles change, essentially based on the magnetic field structure in the ergodic layer. This finding
suggests increasing impurity screening effect in higher ne. The intensity ratio is also measured for
different magnetic field structures. The lower ratio of CV+CVI to CIII+CIV obtained for outward
shifted configurations, where the ergodic layer becomes remarkably thicker, indicates the role of the
ergodic layer on the impurity screening.

Introduction :

Reduction of the impurity content in high temperature plasmas is one of the important issues in fusion
study. Edge particle control is therefore essential to protect the core plasma from the impurity
contamination. It is reported that the enhancement of particle and energy transport by the stochastic
magnetic field structure at the plasma edge should lead to a reduction of impurity content in the
plasma [1]. In tokamak, the effect of such a magnetic field structure has been studied using
additionally supplied external magnetic field coils, i.e, ergodic divertor (ED) on Tore Supra [2],
dynamic ergodic divertor (DED) on TEXTOR [3] and perturbation filed on DIII-D [4].

In helical devices such as LHD, on the other hand, the edge magnetic fields are intrinsically stochastic
and then the edge plasma is characterized by the presence of thick stochastic magnetic field structure
surrounding the plasma core, which is called 'ergodic layer' [5]. Therefore, it is interesting to study
the effect of the ergodized magnetic field structure on the particle and energy transports at the plasma
edge. In this paper the edge impurity transport and the related radiation properties have been studied
using the spectral emissions from carbon, which is a major impurity in LHD.

LHD edge magnetic structure :

The LHD is the superconducting device with major radius and averaged minor radius of 3.6 and 0.6m,
respectively. The magnetic field for the confinement is produced and sustained by a pair of l=2/m=10
___________________________________________________________________________
* Communicating author
E-mail : chowdhuri.malay@nifs.ac.jp

3-5 December, 2007, Institute For Plasma Research, Gandhinagar, India

 APFA – 2007

continuous helical coils and pairs of outer vertical, inner vertical and inner shaping coils [6]. The
plasma axis and position, which make a remarkable change in magnetic surface structure including
the ergodic layer, can be moved horizontally by changing the vertical field due to outer and inner
vertical coils. The edge magnetic structure for an inward shifted configuration of Rax = 3.6m is shown
in Fig.1. The elliptical magnetic flux surfaces appear inside the last closed flux surface (LCFS). It is
surrounded by the ergodic layer in thickness of 2 to 20cm, which basically varies with the distance
from the helical coils position. Outside of this ergodic layer, there exist four intrinsic divertor legs
between the X-points and divertor plates. Particles came out from the core region reach the divertor
plates though the ergodic layer, the X-points and the divertor legs. The thickness of ergodic layer, λerg,
increases with the shift of magnetic axis outwardly. This is shown in Fig.2, in which λerg is plotted as
a function of the magnetic axis, Rax, in the horizontally elongated plasma cross section. It can be seen
that the λerg at inboard side becomes very large for the outward shifted plasma configuration.

Fig.1. Schematic view of the horizontally

elongated cross section of LHD magnetic
configuration in Rax=3.6m. R and Z axes
indicate plasma major radius direction and the
direction perpendicular to the equatorial plane.
Fig.2. Ergodic layer thickness, λerg, plotted
as function of magnetic axis, Rax, at inboard
(solid circles) and outboard (solid triangles)
sides in horizontally elongated plasma cross
section.

Experimental setup :

The hydrogen discharge was maintained using neutral beam injection (NBI). Four resonance
transitions of CIII (977Å, 2s2 1S-2s2p 1P), CIV (1548Å, 2s 2S-2p 2P), CV (40.27Å, 1s2 1S-1s2p 1P) and
CVI (33.73Å, 1s 2S-2p 2P) are mainly monitored for the present study. The above-mentioned spectral
lines from CIII and CIV ions are observed using two absolutely calibrated 20cm normal incidence
VUV monochromators equipped with electron multiplier tube detectors [7]. The signal was acquired
with time interval of 100μs. Absolute intensity calibration was done using the carbon emissions by
comparing the raw signals with the absolutely calibrated EUV_Long spectrometer for 50−500Å [8].
The spectral lines from CV and CVI were observed using absolutely calibrated EUV_Short
spectrometers for 10−130Å [9]. Back-illuminated VUV sensitive CCD detectors are mounted with
both spectrometers and operated in full binning mode. Data from the CCD have been acquired in
every 5 ms. Electron temperature and density profiles measured with Thomson diagnostics and line-
integrated electron density measured with FIR diagnostics are used for the present analysis.

Results and discussions :

Emissions from CIII, CIV, CV and CVI were analyzed during steady state phase in several
discharges. Emissions from carbon are mainly emitted from the edge region of LHD plasmas because
the core electron temperature, Te, is enough high. The ionization energies of CIII (48eV) and CIV
(64eV) are very small compare to the CV (392eV) and CVI (490eV). Because of this clear separation
among the ionization energies , the carbon emissions from above mentioned four charge states can be

3-5 December, 2007, Institute For Plasma Research, Gandhinagar, India

 APFA – 2007

divided into two groups, i.e., CIII + CIV and CV + CVI. The CIII and CIV mainly exist at outer side
in the ergodic layer and the CV and CVI exist at near LCFS. The emission from singly-ionized
carbon, CII, has not been considered in the present study since it is negligibly week. The absolute
intensities of the spectral lines from the carbon ions have been converted into total radiation power
after considering the whole surface area of the LHD plasmas. The ratio of radiated power between
two groups is analyzed for the relative comparison.

Fig.3. (a) Ratio of CV+CVI to CIII+CIV and (b) radiated power from CV+CVI (solid circles)
and CIII+CIV (open circles) plotted with <ne>.

Figure 3(a) shows the ratio of the CV+CVI to

CIII+CIV as a function of line-averaged electron
density, <ne>. It is seen that CV+CVI are
stronger than CIII+CIV for the whole density
range. The total radiation power from carbon is
~300kW at <ne>=8×1019m-3, which corresponds
to nearly 30% of the total radiation power
measured by bolometer diagnostics. The ratio
drops two orders in magnitude when the density
rises from 1 to 8×1019m-3. This drop is mainly
due to that the CIII+CIV radiation monotonically
increases with ne whereas the CV+CVI radiation
remains nearly constant with ne. This is seen in
the Fig.3(b), where CV+CVI and CIII+CIV are
plotted with <ne>. This indicates the increase in
radiated power at only outer region in the ergodic Fig.4. Edge ne (solid circles and diamonds)
layer. The edge Te decreases with increasing ne. and Te (open circles and diamonds) profiles
Then, the low Te and high ne area expands and plotted for low-density (<ne>=1.50 (solid and
gives rise to the enhancement of the CIII and open circles)) and high-density (5.52×1019m-3
CIV emissions. The edge ne and Te profiles from (solid and open diamonds)) discharges,
two discharges with different <ne> are plotted in respectively. Horizontal axis of R means
Fig.4. Here, the symbols with circles and plasma major radius and arrow with 'ρ=1'
diamonds mean low-density (<ne>=1.50×10 m 19 - indicates LCFS position.
3 19 -3
) and high-density (<ne>=5.52×10 m ) discharges, respectively. It can be clearly seen that the edge
Te becomes lower at higher edge ne. In ionizing plasma like during the steady states phase of the
discharges, the CIII intensity reflects the influx of carbon. Then, the nearly constant CV+CVI and the
increasing CIII+CIV radiation may suggest the impurity screening effect in the discharges with higher
ne. The detailed theoretical analysis is now being done. Increasing the electron density in the ergodic
layer, the friction force becomes dominant compare to the ion thermal force, which leads to impurity
screening [10].

3-5 December, 2007, Institute For Plasma Research, Gandhinagar, India

 APFA – 2007

Carbon emissions have been also studied for the

discharges with different magnetic axes. Figure
5(a) illustrates the ratio of CV+CVI to CIII+CIV
radiations as a function of <ne>. It shows that
ratios are decreasing with increasing <ne> for all
magnetic axis configurations. In addition, the
ratios become lower with increasing Rax,
especially for densities of ≤ 5×1019m-3. This
reduction is mainly caused by the decrease in the
CV+CVI radiation, as shown in Fig.5(b). The
CIII+CIV radiation is not changed so much for
all configurations, as indicated in Fig.5(c). The
thickness of the ergodic layer is likely to play an
important role for the edge particle transport.
Thus, the thick ergodic layer at outward shifted
configurations might increase the impurity
screening by enhancing the edge carbon
transport.

Summary :

Carbon emissions from LHD have been studied

to understand the role of particle transport in the
edge ergodic layer. It is found that the CV+CVI
radiation was much larger than the CIII+CIV
radiation. The CV+CVI radiation is nearly
constant with ne, but the CIII+CIV monotonically
increases with ne. Reduction of the ratio of
CV+CVI to CIII+CIV with increasing density
suggests the increase in the impurity screening
effect. Reduction of the ratio in outward shifted
configurations also suggests the increase of the
particle screening through the enhancement of
edge carbon transport.
Fig.4. (a) Ratio of CV+CVI to CIII+CIV, (b)
Acknowledgement : CV+CVI radiation and (c) CIII+CIV radiation
plotted with <ne> for magnetic axes of Rax =
The authors would like to thank all members of 3.60 (open circles), 3.75 (open diamonds),
LHD experimental group for their technical 3.90 (open squares) and 4.00m (open
supports. triangles).
References :

[1] Ph Ghendrith et al., Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion, 38, p.1653, (1996).
[2] J. H. Hogan et al., Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion, 44, p.673, (2002).
[3] G. Telesca et al., J. Nucl. Mater, 44, p.337, (2005).
[4] T. E. Evans et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, p.235003 (2004).
[5] N. Ohybu et al., Nucl. Fusion, 34, p.387, (1994).
[6] S. Morita et al., Nucl. Fusion, 47, p.1033, (2007).
[7] S. Morita, M. Goto et al., Physica Script, T91, p.48 (2001).
[8] M. B. Chowdhuri, S. Morita, M. Goto et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum., 78, p.023501 (2007).
[9] M. B. Chowdhuri, S. Morita and M. Goto, submitted to Applied Optics.
[10] M. Kobayashi et al, Proceeding of ITC/ISHW2007.

3-5 December, 2007, Institute For Plasma Research, Gandhinagar, India