Current profile evolution during fast wave current drive on the DIII-D tokamak

The effect of co and counter fast wave current drive (FWCD) on the plasma current profile has been measured for neutral beam heated plasmas with reversed magnetic shear on the DIII-D tokamak. Although the response of the loop voltage profile was consistent with the application of co and counter FWCD, little difference was observed between the current profiles for the opposite directions of FWCD. The evolution of the current profile was successfully modeled using the ONETWO transport code. The simulation showed that the small difference between the current profiles for co and counter FWCD was mainly due to an offsetting change in the ohmic current profile. In addition, the time scale for the loop voltage to reach equilibrium (i.e., flatten) was found to be much longer than the FWCD pulse, which limited the ability of the current profile to fully respond to co or counter FWCD. copyright 1996 American Institute of Physics