Comparison of private flux region instability in conventional and super-X divertor configurations

Understanding turbulence in the divertor leg of tokamaks is essential to predict the heat deposition profile on the divertor plate. This in turn is important for evaluating advanced divertor configurations, such as the super-X divertor. Within the divertor region, the private flux region is of interest because it is relatively unaffected by turbulence extending from the outboard midplane, so instabilities in this region could have a particularly pronounced effect on transport. These instabilities are modeled using the Arbitrary Topology Equation Reader (ArbiTER) eigenvalue code. Eigenmodes are examined further by comparing physics models to determine the fundamental mechanisms behind their formation and quantifying the effect of individual terms. This analysis is conducted on both conventional and super-X divertors to compare these effects. The resulting analysis reveals the presence of a geodesic curvature driven instability that is significantly more pronounced in the super-X configuration.