It has been found that plasma confinement by the magnetic field of alternating-sign curvature with convex–concave field lines results in a strong stabilizing action against convective (flute-interchange) perturbations. For simple combinations of axisymmetric mirrors and cusps the calculations according to the kinetic stability criterion give strongly, centrally peaked stable plasma pressure profiles instead of shallow ones. For the experimental research of this effect, a compact magnetic confinement device has been modified by adding of the external current coil to fulfil the field-line curvature requirements. The critical convectively-stable plasma pressure profiles calculation in this experimental geometry and the probe measurements of the spatial plasma distribution in the new magnetic configuration of alternating-sign curvature have been performed. The experimental results give some support for a conclusion that there is an increase in the ion saturation current at the region near the minimum of the specific volume min ∫dl/B. This region corresponds to the average minimum in the second adiabatic invariant, and the kinetic description predicts the stable pressure profile peaking here due to reduction of charge separation by particle drift in alternating-sign curvature.
Experimental investigation of different configurations in a flexible heliac