Active probe experiments at the Wendelstein 7-AS stellarator

The fluctuations in the edge plasma of magnetic fusion experiments play an important role in terms of anomalous energy and particle transport. Experiments on Wendelstein 7-AS (Renner H et al1989 Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion31 1579) were conducted to investigate the propagation of actively fed signals driven by electrical probes. The perspective of these investigations is an improved understanding of the turbulence and potentially a method to tailor the edge plasma turbulence. Two moveable poloidal probe arrays were used for the experiments, one located on the inboard side of the vessel and the other on the outboard side. A subset of probe tips was used for actively driving the plasma by different control signals, the remaining probes collected fluctuation data in the plasma boundary. With this set-up it was possible to investigate the signal propagation in the poloidal direction and also parallel to the magnetic field. Poloidally, we find a significant cross-correlation between active and passive probes. From analysis of the cross-coherency and phases of the signal with passive probe tips, a dominant influence of the background plasma rotation on the applied signals is observed. In the case of externally driven waves by several phase-locked active probes, the direction of the wave propagation with respect to the plasma rotation (co- or counter-rotating) is essential for an effective coupling to the turbulence. Also, the signal propagation parallel to the magnetic field depends on co- or counter-rotation with respect to the background plasma rotation. The parallel phase velocity was found to be compatible with the electron thermal velocity.