Improved fusion performance in low-q, low triangularity plasmas with negative central magnetic shear

Fusion performance in DIII-D low-q single-null divertor discharges has doubled as a result of improved confinement and stability, achieved through modification of pressure and current density profiles. These discharges extend the regime of neoclassical core confinement associated with negative or weak central magnetic shear to plasmas with the low safety factor (q95∼3) and triangularity (δ∼0.3) anticipated in future tokamaks such as ITER. Energy confinement times exceed the ITER-89P L- mode scaling law by up to a factor of 4, and are almost twice as large as in previous single-null cases with 3≤q95≤4. The normalized beta [β(aB/I)] reaches values as high as 4, comparable to the best previous single-null discharges. Although high triangularity allows a larger plasma current, the fusion gain in these low triangularity plasmas is similar to that of high triangularity double-null plasmas at the same plasma current. These results are encouraging for advanced performance operation in ITER and for D-T experiments in JET