Development of a toroidal soft x-ray imaging system and application for investigating three-dimensional plasma on J-TEXT

A toroidal soft x-ray imaging(T-SXRI)system has been developed to investigate threedimensional(3D)plasma physics on J-TEXT.This T-SXRI system consists of three sets of SXR arrays.Two sets are newly developed and located on the vacuum chamber wall at toroidal positionsφof 126.4°and 272.6°,respectively,while one set was established previously atφ=65.50.Each set of SXR arrays consists of three arrays viewing the plasma poloidally,and hence can be used separately to obtain SXR images via the tomographic method.The sawtooth precursor oscillations are measured by T-SXRI,and the corresponding images of perturbative SXR signals are successfully reconstructed at these three toroidal positions,hence providing measurement of the 3D structure of precursor oscillations.The observed 3D structure is consistent with the helical structure of the m/n=1/1 mode.The experimental observation confirms that the T-SXRI system is able to observe 3D structures in the J-TEXT plasma.

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

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 k W,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.

Investigation of the J-TEXT plasma events by k-means clustering algorithm

Various types of plasma events emerge in specific parameter ranges and exhibit similar characteristics in diagnostic signals,which can be applied to identify these events.A semisupervised machine learning algorithm,the k-means clustering algorithm,is utilized to investigate and identify plasma events in the J-TEXT plasma.This method can cluster diverse plasma events with homogeneous features,and then these events can be identified if given few manually labeled examples based on physical understanding.A survey of clustered events reveals that the k-means algorithm can make plasma events(rotating tearing mode,sawtooth oscillations,and locked mode)gathering in Euclidean space composed of multi-dimensional diagnostic data,like soft x-ray emission intensity,edge toroidal rotation velocity,the Mirnov signal amplitude and so on.Based on the cluster analysis results,an approximate analytical model is proposed to rapidly identify plasma events in the J-TEXT plasma.The cluster analysis method is conducive to data markers of massive diagnostic data.

Disruption prediction based on fusion feature extractor on J-TEXT

Predicting disruptions across different tokamaks is necessary for next generation device.Future large-scale tokamaks can hardly tolerate disruptions at high performance discharge,which makes it difficult for current data-driven methods to obtain an acceptable result.A machine learning method capable of transferring a disruption prediction model trained on one tokamak to another is required to solve the problem.The key is a feature extractor which is able to extract common disruption precursor traces in tokamak diagnostic data,and can be easily transferred to other tokamaks.Based on the concerns above,this paper presents a deep feature extractor,namely,the fusion feature extractor(FFE),which is designed specifically for extracting disruption precursor features from common diagnostics on tokamaks.Furthermore,an FFE-based disruption predictor on J-TEXT is demonstrated.The feature extractor is aimed to extracting disruption-related precursors and is designed according to the precursors of disruption and their representations in common tokamak diagnostics.Strong inductive bias on tokamak diagnostics data is introduced.The paper presents the evolution of the neural network feature extractor and its comparison against general deep neural networks,as well as a physics-based feature extraction with a traditional machine learning method.Results demonstrate that the FFE may reach a similar effect with physics-guided manual feature extraction,and obtain a better result compared with other deep learning methods.

Observation of the poloidally asymmetrical density perturbation of sawtooth collapse on J-TEXT

The detailed density perturbations provided by the advanced polarimeter-interferometer system(Polaris) during sawtooth collapse on the Joint Texas Experimental Tokamak(J-TEXT) are reported in this article.During a sawtooth collapse and the crash of plasma pressure at the center,it is found that the increase in density in the region between the inversion radius and mixing radius is poloidally asymmetrical,while the increase in temperature is poloidally symmetrical.The poloidal location where the density increases is dependent on the phase of the precursory m/n=1/1 kink mode.It is always out of phase with the hot core of the m/n=1/1 mode.The behaviors of density perturbations during sawtooth collapse observed in J-TEXT are beyond the expectations of the standard model,and this can shed new light on the understanding of sawtooth collapse.

Overview of the J-TEXT progress on RMP and disruption physics

The J-TEXT tokamak has been operated for ten years since its first plasma obtained at the end of 2007. The diagnostics development and main modulation systems, i.e. resonant magnetic perturbation （RMP） systems and massive gas injection （MGI） systems, will be introduced in this paper. Supported by these efforts, J-TEXT has contributed to research on several topics, especially on RMP physics and disruption mitigation. Both experimental and theoretical research show that RMP could lock, suppress or excite the tearing modes, depending on the RMP amplitude, frequency difference between RMP and rational surface rotation, and initial stabilities. The plasma rotation, particle transport and operation region are influenced by the RMP. Utilizing the MGI valves, disruptions have been mitigated with pure He, pure Ne, and a mixture of He and Ar （9：1）. A significant runaway current plateau could be generated with moderate amounts of Ar injection. The RMP has been shown to suppress the generation of runaway current during disruptions.

Recent progress of the ECRH system and initial experimental results on the J-TEXT tokamak

In order to broaden the range of the plasma parameters and provide experimental conditions for physical research into high-performance plasma,the development of the electron cyclotron resonance heating(ECRH) system for the J-TEXT tokamak was initiated in 2017.For the first stage,the ECRH system operated successfully with one 105 GHz/500 kW/1 s gyrotron in 2019.More than 400 kW electron cyclotron(EC) wave power has been injected into the plasma successfully,raising the core electron temperature to 1.5 keV.In 2022,another 105 GHz/500 kW/1 s gyrotron completed commissioning tests which signifies that the ECRH system could generate an EC wave power of 1 MW in total.Under the support of the ECRH system,various physical experiments have been carried out on J-TEXT.The electron thermal transport in ECRH plasmas has been investigated.When ECRH is turned on,the electron thermal diffusivity significantly increases.The runaway current is elevated when a disruption occurs during ECRH heating.When the injected EC wave power is 400 kW,the conversion efficiency of runaway current increases from 35% to 75%.Fast electron behavior is observed in electron cyclotron current drive(ECCD) plasma by the fast electron bremsstrahlung diagnostic(FEB).The increase in the FEB intensity implies that ECCD could generate fast electrons.A successful startup with a 200 kW ECW is achieved.With the upgrade of the ECRH system,the J-TEXT operational range could be expanded and further relevant research could be conducted.

Toroidal component of velocity for geodesic acoustic modes in the edge plasmas of the J-TEXT tokamak

The toroidal component of the velocity for geodesic acoustic modes(GAMs)is first demonstrated.Multiple Langmuir probe arrays set up near the top tokamak of the J-TEXT were utilized for this study.A significant peak at the GAM frequency is observed in Mach number fluctuations.The toroidal velocity for the GAMs is estimated as 10–100 ms-1 and increases with the poloidal velocity.The ratio of toroidal component to the poloidal one of the velocity is mainly located in the interval between 0.3 and 1.0.With higher safety factors q,the ratio almost does not change with decreasing the safety factor,whereas it goes up sharply at low q.The coherencies between poloidal electric fields and Mach number fluctuations in turbulence frequency bands are also evaluated,and are higher than those between radial electric fields and Mach number fluctuations.

Estimation of magnetic island width by the fluctuations of electron cyclotron emission radiometer on J-TEXT

The width of a magnetic island is an important parameter for the quantitative analysis of magnetohydrodynamic-related physics. An electron cyclotron emission radiometer(ECE) is a powerful tool that can be used to obtain this width, which can usually be determined from the flat temperature distribution at the O-point phase or the maxima temperature perturbation. An improved method to estimate the width of a magnetic island is proposed in this paper, and it is independent of calibration. With this method and the existing 24-channel ECE system, the width of a rotation magnetic island can be estimated. Additionally, by filtering the fluctuation ECE signal, the evolution of the magnetic island can be obtained. The results of this method are consistent with those of the integrated magnetic probe signals, which represent the relative change of the magnetic island.

Design and first result of combined Langmuir-magnetic probe on J-TEXT tokamak

In order to measure boundary electrostatic and magnetic fluctuations simultaneously,a combined Langmuir-magnetic probe(CLMP)has been designed and built on joint-Texas experimental tokamak.The probe consists of 8 graphite probe pins and a 3D magnetic probe,driven by a mechanical pneumatic device.By means of simulation,the shielding effect of the graphite sleeve on the magnetic fluctuation signal is explored,and the influence of the eddy current was reduced by cutting the graphite sleeve.In the experiment,it has been verified that the mutual inductance of electromagnetic signals can be ignored,and a 70–90 k Hz electromagnetic mode is observed around the last closed magnetic surface.The establishment of CLMP provides data for the exploration of the coupling of electrostatic and magnetic fluctuations.

Study of the spectrum effect on the threshold of resonant magnetic perturbation penetration on J-TEXT

The spectrum effect on the penetration of resonant magnetic perturbation(RMP) is studied with upgraded in-vessel RMP coils on J-TEXT.The poloidal spectrum of the RMP field,especially the amplitudes of 2/1 and 3/1 components,can be varied by the phase difference between the upper and lower coil rows,ΔΦ=Φ_(top)-Φ_(bottom),where Φ_(top)and Φ_(bottom)are the toroidal phases of the n=1 field of each coil row.The type of RMP penetration is found to be related to ΔΦ,including the RMP penetration of either 2/1 or 3/1 RMP and the successive penetrations of 3/1 RMP followed by the 2/1 RMP.For cases with penetration of only one RMP component,the penetration thresholds measured by the corresponding resonant component are close for variousΔΦ.However,the 2/1 RMP penetration threshold is significantly reduced if the 3/1 locked island is formed in advance.The changes in the rotation profile due to 3/1 locked island formation could partially contribute to the reduction of the 2/1 thresholds.

Effect of edge magnetic island on carbon screening in the J-TEXT tokamak

The effect of externally applied resonant magnetic perturbation(RMP)on carbon impurity behavior is investigated in the J-TEXT tokamak.It is found that the m/n=3/1 islands have an impurity screening effect,which becomes obvious while the edge magnetic island is generated via RMP field penetration.The impurity screening effect shows a dependence on the RMP phase with the field penetration,which is strongest if the O point of the magnetic island is near the low-field-side(LFS)limiter plate.By combining a methane injection experimental study and STRAHL impurity transport analysis,we found that the variation of the impurity transport dominates the impurity screening effect.The impurity diffusion at the inner plasma region(r/a<0.8)is enhanced with a significant increase in outward convection velocity at the edge region in the case of the magnetic island’s O point near the LFS limiter plate.The impurity transport coefficient varies by a much lower level for the case with the magnetic island’s X point near the LFS limiter plate.The interaction of the magnetic island and the LFS limiter plate is thought to contribute to the impurity transport variation with the dependence on the RMP phase.A possible reason is the interaction between the magnetic island and the LFS limiter.

Study of the fast electron behavior in electron cyclotron current driven plasma on J-TEXT

In J-TEXT tokamak,fast electron bremsstrahlung diagnostic with 9 chords equipped with multichannel analyzer enables detailed studies of the generation and transport of fast electrons.The spatial profiles and energy spectrum of the fast electrons have been measured in two ECCD cases with either on-axis or off-axis injection,and the profiles processed by Abel-inversion are consistent with the calculated power deposition locations.Moreover,it is observed that the energy of fast electrons increases rapidly after turning off the ECCD,which may be attributed to the acceleration by the recovered loop voltage at low electron density.

Overview of machine learning applications in fusion plasma experiments on J-TEXT tokamak

Machine learning research and applications in fusion plasma experiments are one of the main subjects on J-TEXT.Since 2013,various kinds of traditional machine learning,as well as deep learning methods have been applied to fusion plasma experiments.Further applications in the real-time experimental environment have proved the feasibility and effectiveness of the methods.For disruption prediction,we started by predicting disruptions of limited classes with a short warning time that could not meet the requirements of the mitigation system.After years of study,nowadays disruption prediction methods on J-TEXT are able to predict all kinds of disruptions with a high success rate and long enough warning time.Furthermore,cross-device disruption prediction methods have obtained promising results.Interpretable analysis of the models are studied.For diagnostics data processing,efforts have been made to reduce manual work in processing and to increase the robustness of the diagnostic system.Models based on both traditional machine learning and deep learning have been applied to real-time experimental environments.The models have been cooperating with the plasma control system and other systems,to make joint decisions to further support the experiments.

Realization of divertor configuration discharge in J-TEXT tokamak

To extend the operation region of the Joint-Texas Experimental tokamak(J-TEXT) to the divertor configuration and even the H-mode,the divertor configuration discharge has been realized for the first time in the J-TEXT tokamak.Along with the establishment of a power supply for the divertor configuration,the construction of relevant diagnostics,and the installation of the divertor target on the high-field side,divertor discharge has been tested.Through the equilibrium calculation and position stability analysis,the control strategy has evolved to be more stable.High-density experiments and auxiliary heating experiments have been carried out on the divertor configuration.The special midplane single-null(MSN) divertor configuration is shown to be more stable than the limiter configuration in the density limit condition and can reach a higher density in the experiment.In the ECRH experiment,the power injection enhances the electron temperature and density,while more heat outflux is loaded on the divertor target tiles and causes more intensive recycling and impurity release.The future plan for the divertor configuration operation in the J-TEXT tokamak is also included.

Suppression of runaway current by electrode biasing and limiter biasing on J-TEXT

The avoidance of runaway electrons(REs) generated during plasma disruption is of great concern for the safe operation of tokamak devices.Experimental study on the suppression of runaway current by electrode biasing(EB) and limiter biasing(LB) has been performed on the J-TEXT tokamak,which could be an alternative way to suppress the runaway current.The experimental results show that the higher the voltage value,the smaller the runaway current in both EB and LB experiments.The runaway current can be completely suppressed at an electrode biased voltage of +450 V and a limiter biased voltage of +300 V.The comparison of the energy spectra during the runaway plateau phase shows that the maximum energy max(E_(RE)) and radiation temperature T_(HXR)hard x-rays(HXRs)are significantly reduced after the application of +200 V limiter biased voltage.The electric field generated by the biased voltage may be the key factor to suppress the runaway current,and the measured radial electric field increases obviously after the voltage is applied.This may result in an increase in the loss of REs to realize the suppression of runaway current.

Recent progress on the J-TEXT three-wave polarimeter-interferometer

The J-TEXT three-wave polarimeter-interferometer system(POLARIS),which measures timespace distribution of electron density and current density,has been optimized with both the optical system and the equilibrium reconstruction method.The phase resolution of a Faraday rotation angle has been improved from 0.1 to 0.06 degree in chords from–0.18 to 0.18 m(plasma minor radius),and the sawtooth oscillation behavior has been detected by Faraday rotation angle measurement.By combining the POLARIS measured data and the equilibrium and fitting code(EFIT),an upgraded equilibrium reconstruction method has been developed,which provides a more accurate temporal and spatial distribution of current density and electron density.By means of the optimized POLARIS and improved equilibrium reconstruction,variations of profiles with increasing density have been carried out,under both Ohmic and electron cyclotron resonance heating discharges.

Development of the HCN heterodyne collective scattering system on J-TEXT

A heterodyne collective scattering system has been designed and developed to investigate the turbulent transport of core plasma on J-TEXT.A dual-HCN laser which consists of two separately pumped HCN gas lasers at 337μm has been developed as the laser source of the scattering system.The intermediate frequency(IF)is~1 MHz when there is a 4μm cavity length difference and capable to maintain stability more than 5 h without manual operation.Detection channels at three different angles(2≤k_(⊥)≤12 cm^(-1))have been installed with Schottky barrier diode mixers of 893 GHz.The sampling frequency of the acquisition system is6 MHz to observe low-frequency density fluctuations.Initial experimental results have been detected and more results can be expected in future experiments.

Development of the pellet injection system on the J-TEXT tokamak

Pellet injection is an attractive technology for core-fueling and magnetohydrodynamic study in magnetic-conflnement fusion devices like tokamaks and stellarators.It can inject solid hydrogen/deuterium pellets into the plasma with deeper density deposition compared with other fueling methods,such as gas pufflng.A three-barrel H_(2)pellet injection system was installed on the J-TEXT tokamak and experiments were carried out.The pellets are formed in three barrels cooled by a cryocooler and compressor system at around 9 K,and are 0.8 mm/1 mm diameter and 0.8 mm length.The pellet is launched by helium propellant gas and injected from the lowfleld side of the plasma.The normal range of pellet speed is 210–310 m s^(-1)for different propellant gas pressures.Due to the three-barrel structure,the number of injected pellets can be adjusted between one and three.Pellets can be launched sequentially with arbitrary time intervals,which enables flexible applications.The results of the experiments show that pellet fueling efflciency can reach 50%.The energy conflnement time increased by about 7.5–10 ms after pellet injection.

Investigation of electron cyclotron current drive efficiency on the J-TEXT tokamak

Electron cyclotron current drive(ECCD) efficiency research is of great importance for the neoclassical tearing mode(NTM) stabilization.Improving ECCD efficiency is beneficial for the NTM stabilization and the ECCD power threshold reduction.ECCD efficiency has been investigated on the J-TEXT tokamak.The electron cyclotron wave(ECW) power scan was performed to obtain the current drive efficiency.The current drive efficiency is derived to be approximately η_(0)=(0.06-0.16)×10^(19)A m^(-2)W^(-1)on the J-TEXT tokamak.The effect of the residual toroidal electric field has been included in the determination of the current drive efficiency,which will enhance the ECCD efficiency.At the plasma current of I_(p)=100 kA and electron density of n_(e)=1.5×10^(19)m^(-3),the ratio of Spitzer conductivity between omhic(OH)and ECCD phases is considered and the experimental data have been corrected.The correction results show that the current drive efficiency η_(1)caused by the fast electron hot conductivity decreases by approximately 79%.It can be estimated that the driven current is approximately 24 kA at 300 kW ECW power.