Experimental Demonstration of E x B Plasma Divertor

E. J. Strait, D. W. Kerst, and J. C. Sprott
Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706
(Received 3 April 1978; final manuscript received 27 July 1978)

ABSTRACT

The E x B drift due to an applied radial electric field in a tokamak with poloidal divertor can speed the flow of plasma out of the scrape-off region, and provide a means of externally controlling the flow rate and thus the width of the density fall-off. An experiment in the Wisconsin levitated toroidal Octupole, using E x B drifts alone, demonstrates divertor-like behavior, including 70% reduction of plasma density near the wall and 40% reduction of plasma flux to the wall, with no adverse effects on confinement of the main plasma.

Ref: E. J. Strait, D. W. Kerst, and J. C. Sprott, Phys. Fluids 21, 2342-2345 (1978)

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