Long Distance Coupling of Lower Hybrid Waves in ITER Relevant Edge Conditions in JET Reversed Shear Plasmas

A significant step towards demonstrating the feasibility of coupling Lower Hybrid (LH) waves in ITER has been achieved in the latest LH current drive experiments in JET. The local electron density in front of the LH launcher was increased by injecting gas (D2 or CD4) from a dedicated gas injection module magnetically connected to the launcher. PLHCD=3MW was coupled with an average reflection coefficient of 5%, at a distance between the last closed flux surface and the launcher of 10cm, in plasmas with an internal transport barrier (ITB) and H‐mode edge, with type I and type III ELMs. Following a modification of the gas injection system, in order to optimise the gas localisation with respect to the LH launcher, injection of D2 proved to be more efficient than CD4. A D2 flux of 5−8×1021el/s provided good coupling conditions at a clearance of 10cm, while when using CD4, a flux of 12×1021el/s was required at 9cm. The plasma performance (neutron rate, H‐factor, ion temperature) was similar with D2 and CD4. An ...