Resistive wall stabilization of high beta plasmas in DIII-D

Recent DIII-D experiments show that ideal kink modes can be stabilized at high beta by a resistive wall, with sufficient plasma rotation. However, the resonant response by a marginally stable resistive wall mode to static magnetic field asymmetries can lead to strong damping of the rotation. Careful reduction of such asymmetries has allowed plasmas with beta well above the ideal MHD no wall limit, and approaching the ideal-wall limit, to be sustained for durations exceeding one second. Feedback control can improve plasma stability by direct stabilization of the resistive wall mode or by reducing magnetic field asymmetry. Assisted by plasma rotation, direct feedback control of resistive wall modes with growth rates more than 5 times faster than the characteristic wall time has been observed. These results open a new regime of tokamak operation above the free-boundary stability limit, accessible by a combination of plasma rotation and feedback control. (author)