Selected highlights of ECH/ECCD physics studies in the TCV tokamak

Abstract

The Tokamak a Configuration Variable, TCV, has used Electron Cyclotron Heating and Current Drive as its only auxiliary heating system for nearly two decades. In addition to basic plasma heating and current profiling, ECH and ECCD under either feedforward or real-time (feedback) control allows control of plasma parameters and MHD behaviour to aid in physics studies and measurements. This paper describes four such studies in which EC control has proved crucial – increased resolution Thomson Scattering measurements in the plasma edge, time-resolved plasma rotation modification during the sawtooth cycle, robust neoclassical tearing mode (NTM) suppression, and double pass transmission measurements of EC waves for scattering and polarization studies. The relative merits of feedforward and feedback methods for recent TCV experiments are discussed.