Experimental Investigation of Lower Hybrid Wave Coupling in HT-7

Experiments on lower hybrid wave (LHW) coupling were investigated in the HT- 7 tokamak. Good coupling of LHW plasma has been demonstrated at different conditions in the HT-7 tokamak. Relevant results have proved that LHW-plasma coupling is affected by the phase difference between adjacent waveguides. Furthermore, the edge density around the grill and relevant coupling can be adjusted by changing the plasma line average density or the gap value between the LH grill and the last closed flux surfaces (LCFS). It is found that the coupling of LHWs becomes poor when the edge density around the LH grill is large enough in the HT-7 tokamak, and that coupling remains good with a proper edge density. With increasing LHW power, it is also found that the reflection coefficients (RCs) increase due to non-linear effects under conditions of low edge recycling, but can decrease under high edge recycling. The edge density depends mainly on the competition between the ponderomotive force (PMF) and the edge recycling intensity in the HT-7 tokamak.