EFDA-JET-PR(04)23
Bright Spots Generated by Lower Hybrid Waves on JET
Observations of bright spots on the JET divertor aprons during lower hybrid current drive experiments are described. These bright spots are important because they can potentially cause damage to large tokamaks. The bright spots arise by impact of a fast particle beam. This beam originates from the front of the lower hybrid launcher, where thermal particles are accelerated by interaction with the high spatial harmonics of the lower hybrid wave. The bright spots are clearly related to the lower hybrid power as they disappear when the lower hybrid power ends. According to the analysis versus various parameters, the brightness of the spots clearly decreases with increasing plasma – wall distance, i.e. the distance between the last closed flux surface and the poloidal limiter. This is clearly beneficial for ITER, as it is designed to operate on a large plasma –wall distance.