MHD-mode locking by controlled halo-current in the T-10 tokamak

Experiments on a non-disruptive halo-current influence on the m = 2 mode behaviour at the flat-top stage of a tokamak discharge are presented. The halo-current in the rail limiter—plasma—vacuum vessel—external circuit—rail limiter loop was used. An EMF source controlled with a preprogrammed signal or with a feedback m = 2 signal was introduced into the external part of the halo-current circuit. The EMF source has generated the oscillating halo-currents with an amplitude of up to 500 A in the frequency range 0–20 kHz. In the case of the preprogrammed control signal the switching on of the EMF source resulted in the shift of the m = 2 mode frequency to the frequency of the halo-current oscillations. In particular, the rotation of the m = 2 mode stopped under a pulse of zero-frequency halo-current. In the tokamak discharges, when the mode rotation spontaneously stopped before the switching on of the oscillating halo-current, the mode rotation was restored at the halo-current frequency. In the case of the halo-current feedback control by the m = 2 mode signal, the effect depended on the choice of the phase shift in the feedback loop. Some increase or decrease of the m = 2 mode amplitude as well as some variations of the mode frequency were observed at different values of the phase shift. The halo-current effect on the m = 2 mode behaviour can be attributed to a coupling between the m/n = 2/1 magnetic islands and the halo-current magnetic field. The experiment was simulated on the assumption that the tearing mode is affected by the halo-current magnetic field component with the same helicity. In the calculations for the T-10 conditions, the mode behaviour under the effect of the halo-current was similar to the experimental observations.