Experimental investigation on effect of ion cyclotron resonance heating on density fluctuation in SOL at EAST

Abstract The suppression of high-intensity blob structures in the scrape-off layer (SOL) by ion-cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF) power, leading to a decrease in the turbulent fluctuation level, is observed first in the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) experiment. This suppression effect from ICRF power injection is global in the whole SOL at EAST, i.e. blob structures both in the regions that are magnetically connected to the active ICRF launcher and in the regions that are not connected to the active ICRF launcher could be suppressed by ICRF power. However, more ICRF power is required to reach the full blob structure suppression effect in the regions that are magnetically unconnected to the active launcher than in the regions that are magnetically connected to the active launcher. Studies show that a possible reason for the blob suppression could be the enhanced E r × B shear flow in the SOL, which is supported by the shaper radial gradient in the floating potential profiles sensed by the divertor probe arrays with increasing ICRF power. The local RF wave power unabsorbed by the core plasma is responsible for the modification of potential profiles in the SOL regions.