Potential formation in axisymmetrized tandem mirror GAMMA 10

The paper reports experimental results on potential formation and end plugging in the axisymmetrized tandem mirror GAMMA 10. The plugging at both ends has been achieved by a combination of neutral beams and gyrotrons. The presence of a plug potential with a thermal barrier in an axisymmetric mirror has been confirmed by direct measurement of the axial potential profile. Enhancement of axial particle confinement has been observed during the end plugging. Non-ambipolar radial transport has been greatly reduced in the axisymmetrized magnetic configuration. The potentials measured by beam probes and end loss analysers are 0.7, 0.4 and 1.1 kV in the central, barrier and plug regions, respectively. Strong end plugging is observed when the central-cell density is higher than the densities in the plug and the barrier, and the plug density remains higher than the barrier density. The plug electron temperature is higher than the central temperature. Hot electrons forming a football-shaped profile have been stably produced in the axisymmetric mirror. The beta value and the fraction of the hot electrons reach up to 5% and 0.8, respectively. Central-cell ion-cyclotron resonance heating can sustain a stable plasma with higher density and ion temperature when resonance surfaces exist in both the anchor and the central cells. (author)