The design, construction and initial results of a new lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) launcher on Alcator C-Mod (Hutchinson et al 1994 Phys. Plasmas1 1511) are presented. The new LHCD launcher (LH2) is based on a novel splitter concept which evenly distributes the microwave power in four ways in the poloidal direction. This design allows for simplification of the feeding structure while keeping the flexibility to vary the peak launched toroidal index of refraction, Ntoroidal, from −3.8 to 3.8. An integrated model predicts good plasma coupling over a wide range of edge densities, while poloidal variations of the edge density are found to affect the evenness of power splitting in the poloidal direction. The measured transmission loss is about 30% lower than the previous launcher, and a clean Ntoroidal spectrum has been confirmed. Power handling capability exceeding an empirical weak conditioning limit and reliable operation up to 1.1 MW net LHCD power have been achieved. A survey of antenna–plasma coupling shows the existence of a millimetric vacuum gap in front of the launcher. Fully non-inductive, reversed shear plasma operation has been demonstrated and sustained for multiple current diffusion times. The current drive efficiency, ηLH ≡ neR0Ip/PLH, of these plasmas is (0.2–0.25) × 1020 m−2A W−1, which is in agreement with the expected efficiency on the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER).
Progress towards steady-state regimes in Alcator C-Mod