[en] The analysis of neutron-diffraction data collected at room temperature from a single crystal of RB(Hsub(0.45)Dsub(0.55))₂PO₄ is shown to require a model of the partially deuterated structure that treats the H and D atoms separately. From the refined structural parameters the length of the symmetric O-(D,D)-O bond in (fully deuterated) RbD₂PO₄ is estimated as 2.522(4)A, with a D-site separation of 0.466(8)A. (author)

[en] CaCu₃Ti₄O₁₂ (CCTO) ceramics are prepared by the conventional solid-state reaction method under various sintering temperatures from 1000 to 1120 deg. C at an interval of 10 deg. C. Microstructures and crystalline structures are examined by scanning electronic microscopy and x-ray diffraction, respectively. Dielectric properties and complex impedances are investigated within the frequency range of 40 Hz-110 MHz over the temperature region from room temperature to 350 deg. C. It has been disclosed that the microstructures can be categorized into three different types: type A (with the small but uniform grain sizes), type B (with the bimodal distribution of grain sizes) and type C (with the large and uniform grain sizes), respectively. The largeness of low-frequency dielectric permittivity at room temperature is closely related to the microstructure. Ceramics with different types of microstructures show the diverse temperature-dependent behaviors of electrical properties. However, the existence of some common characteristics is also found among them. For all of the ceramics, a Debye-type relaxation emerges in the frequency range of 100 Hz-100 kHz at high measuring temperatures, which has the larger dielectric dispersion strength than the one known in the frequency range above 100 kHz. Thus, the high-temperature dielectric dispersion exhibits a large low-frequency response and two Debye-type relaxations. Furthermore, all of the ceramics show three semicircles in the complex impedance plane. These semicircles are considered to represent individually different electrical mechanisms, among which the one in the low-frequency range arises most probably from the contribution of the domain boundaries, and the other two are ascribed to the contributions of the domains and the grain boundaries, respectively

[en] The radial motion and structure of edge turbulence in the HuanLiuqi-2A tokamak [Y. Liu et al., Nucl. Fusion 45, S239 (2005)] was measured with visible spectroscopy diagnostic system; the radial turbulence propagation velocity and correlation length were evaluated by time-delay correlation technique and there were typically V_r=0.4-1 km/s and L_r=2-6 cm, respectively. The edge intermittent events accompanied with turbulence have been observed in plasma edge and propagated outward radially; especially through the scrape-off layer, the fluctuation signals of D_α exhibit strong asymmetric probability distribution functions (PDFs). Their propagation trajectories and radial velocity PDFs were inferred from a special correlation technique and the results indicated the radial velocity of intermittent event depends on its amplitude. Some comparisons with previous measurements and models were also presented.

[en] A novel 32-channel electron cyclotron emission radiometer has been designed and tested for the measurement of electron temperature profiles on the HL-2A tokamak. This system is based on the intermediate frequency filter detection technique, and has the features of wide working frequency range and high spatial resolution. Two relative calibration methods have been investigated: sweeping the toroidal magnetic field and hopping the output frequency of the local oscillator. Preliminary results show that both methods can ensure reasonable profiles

[en] In recent experiments of the HL-2A tokamak, the effect on the pedestal dynamics by the plasma fuelling with supersonic molecular beam injection (SMBI) has been intensively investigated. Experimental results in several tokamaks suggested that SMBI is a promising technique for ELM mitigation. In addition to the fuelling, the impact of impurities on the pedestal dynamics and instabilities has been investigated in HL-2A. Experimental results have shown that during the H-mode phase, a broadband electromagnetic (EM) turbulence was driven by peaked impurity density profile at the edge plasma region, and governed by double critical gradients of the impurity density. The absolute value of the threshold in positive gradient region is much lower than that in the negative region. This strong asymmetry in the critical gradients has been predicted by theoretical simulation. The results reveal that pedestal dynamics and heat loads can be actively controlled by exciting or changing pedestal instabilities. (paper)

[en] In recent experiments at the HL-2A tokamak, dynamic features across the low–intermediate–high (L–I–H) confinement transition have been investigated in detail. Experimental evidence shows two types of opposite limit cycles (dubbed type-Y and type-J) between the radial electric field (E_r) and turbulence evolution during the intermediate I-phase. Whereas for type-Y the turbulence grows prior to the change in E_r, for type-J the oscillation in E_r leads turbulence. It has been found that the type-Y usually appears first after an L–I transition, followed by type-J before the transition to the H-mode phase. Possible roles played by zonal flows and the enhanced pressure-gradient-induced flow shear in suppressing turbulence, respectively, in the type-Y and type-J periods have been identified. In addition, during the I-phase of the L–I–H discharges a kink-type MHD mode routinely occurs and crashes rapidly just prior to the I → H transition. The mode crash evokes substantial energy release from the core to plasma boundary and further increases the edge pressure gradient and E_r shear, which eventually results in confinement improvement into the H-mode. (paper)

[en] Edge localized mode (ELM)-filament statistical characteristics and intermittent convective transport are studied during ELM mitigation (10–30 ms) induced by supersonic molecular beam injection (SMBI) on the HL-2A tokamak. Langmuir probe data show that the burst rate of large amplitude filaments (δn_e > 4σ) decreases by 30–50% and their radial velocity decreases by 40–60%, which is an indication of an E-vector × B-vector amplitude reduction. A decrease of long-range correlation along the magnetic flux surface is observed after SMBI, indicating a role of electron–ion collisionality on the filament parallel current in the ELM mitigation time. The transient particle and heat fluxes decrease about 40–50% and 50–60%, respectively. These observations indicate that SMBI might be an effective method to suppress the intermittent convective transport. (paper)

[en] In HL-2A, the characteristics of the edge plasma instabilities and their effects on the dynamical evolution of the pedestal in H-mode plasmas have been investigated. In the edge pedestal region with steep pressure gradient, a quasi-coherent mode (QCM) has been observed in density fluctuations with a frequency range of 50–100 kHz. It appears during the edge localized mode (ELM)-free period after the L–H transition and prior to the first ELM. A threshold in the pedestal density gradient has been identified for the excitation of this mode. The QCM can also be observed during inter-ELM periods. It is excited early in the inter-ELM period, and disappears when the ELM onset starts. The radial wave-number of the mode is estimated with two radially separated reflectometers. It shows that the mode is radially propagating inward. The poloidal wave number estimated with the Langmuir probes is k_θ ∼ 0.43 cm⁻¹. The mode propagates poloidally in the electron diamagnetic direction in the plasma frame. The toroidal mode number, deduced from Mirnov signals, is n ∼ 7. The corresponding poloidal mode number is m ∼ 21 according to the local safety factor value. The analysis for the dynamical evolution of the pedestal during the ELM cycle clearly shows that the mode is excited before the ELM onset. During and after the ELM crash, the mode disappears. It suggests that the QCM is driven by the pedestal density gradient, and the mode in return regulates the pedestal density evolution. (paper)

[en] A 2D electron cyclotron emission imaging (ECEI) system has been developed for measurement of electron temperature fluctuations in the HL-2A tokamak. It is comprised of a front-end 24 channel heterodyne imaging array with a tunable RF range spanning 75–110 GHz, and a set of back-end ECEI electronics that together generate 24 × 8 = 192 channel images of the 2nd harmonic X-mode electron cyclotron emission from the HL-2A plasma. The simulated performance of the local oscillator (LO) optics and radio frequency (RF) optics is presented, together with the laboratory characterization results. The Gaussian beams from the LO optics are observed to properly cover the entire detector array. The ECE signals from the plasma are mixed with the LO signal in the array box, then delivered to the electronics system by low-loss microwave cables, and finally to the digitizers. The ECEI system can achieve temporal resolutions of ∼μs, and spatial resolutions of 1 cm (radially) and 2 cm (poloidally)

[en] The electron cyclotron emission imaging system on the HL-2A tokamak has been upgraded to 24 (poloidally) × 16 (radially) channels based on the previous 24 × 8 array. The measurement region can be flexibly shifted due to the independence of the two local oscillator sources, and the field of view can be adjusted easily by changing the position of the zoom lenses. The temporal resolution is about 2.5 μs and the achievable spatial resolution is 1 cm. After laboratory calibration, it was installed on HL-2A tokamak in 2014, and the local 2D mode structures of MHD activities were obtained for the first time