Abstract
The first experimental observation of the sudden transition to the improved particle confinement mode in the H-1 heliac is reported and shows a clear dependence on magnetic configuration. In a low-temperature plasma a transition to improved confinement followed by a twofold increase in the electron density is observed when the magnetic field exceeds a critical value . At the transition occurs spontaneously (within 1 ms). This strongly decreases with increasing rotational transform. The improvement in confinement correlates with the suppression of the fluctuations and fluctuation-induced particle flux and with the increase in the radial electric field.
- Received 9 September 1996
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.77.4190
©1996 American Physical Society