Plasma density control with ergodic divertor on Tore Supra

Plasma density control on the tokamak Tore Supra is important for the optimization of every experimental scenario dealing with the improvement of plasma performances. Specific conditions are required both in the plasma bulk and at the edge. Within the framework of the present study, a magnetic configuration is used in the e plasma edge of Tore Supra: the ergodic divertor configuration. A magnetic perturbation which is resonant with the permanent field destroys the plasma confinement locally, opening the field lines onto the material components. They aim of the study is the characterization of the edge density in every relevant scenario for Tore Supra. The first part of this work is dedicated to density and temperature measurements by a series of fixed Langmuir probes located at the very edge of the plasma. Thanks to them, density regimes have been put in evidence during experiments where the volume averaged density , an usual control parameter of the plasma, was varied. The analysis of heat and particle transport through the plasma edge region explains the mechanisms leading to those regimes. The essential factor in our analysis is the dependence of the electron conductivity and ionization depth on temperature. While heat conduction governs the heat transport, the edge density varies linearly according to . Below a critical temperature, reached when the ion flux amplification at constant power density is large enough, a parallel temperature gradient appears leading to a density gradient in the opposite direction in order to maintain the pressure constant along the field lines. A high recycling regime is obtained and the edge density varies like 3. The pressure conservation is no more satisfied during the detachment of the plasma, which is characterized by a high neutral density at low temperatures leading to a ion momentum loss by friction against the neutrals. The edge density drops in those conditions. These regimes are similar to those encountered with the axisymmetric divertors. The inhomogeneities have been discussed thanks to the probe measurements at 14 locations of the divertor modules. (author)