The role of neutrals in high-mode (H-mode) pedestal formation

An analytic model, derived from coupled continuity equations for the electron and neutral deuterium densities, is consistent with many features of edge electron density profiles in the DIII-D tokamak [J. L. Luxon , Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion Research, 1986, Vol. I (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1987), p. 159]. For an assumed constant particle diffusion coefficient, the model shows that particle transport and neutral fueling produce electron and neutral density profiles that have the same characteristic scale lengths at the plasma edge. For systematic variations of density in high-mode (H-mode) discharges, the model predicts that the width of the electron density transport barrier decreases and the maximum gradient increases, as observed in the experiments. The widths computed from the model agree quantitatively with the experimental widths for conditions in which the model is valid. These results support models of transport barrier formation in which the H-mode particle barrier is driven by the edge particle flux and the width of the barrier is approximately the neutral penetration length. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.