Reciprocating Probe Measurements of L-H Transition in LHCD H-Mode on EAST

As the power available in the initial phase of the ITER operation will be limited, accessing the high confinement mode (H-mode) with low heating power will be a critical issue. In the recent experiment on EAST, the H-mode was obtained for the first time with lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) wave only. Reciprocating Langmuir probe measurements at the outer midplane showed that the electron density n e and electron temperature T e in the scrape-off layer (SOL) were significantly reduced in the ELM-free phase, resulting in the increase of lower-hybrid wave (LHW) reflection. It was found that the power loss P loss was comparable during the L-H transition, by comparing the adjacent L-mode and H-mode discharge. The D α emission, T e and n e decreased rapidly in the time scale of about 1 ms, and the radial electric field E r turned positive in this process near the last closed flux surface. Multiple L-H-L transitions were observed during a single shot when the applied LHW power was marginal to the threshold. The floating potential (V f ) had negative spikes corresponding with the D α signal, and E r oscillation evolved into several intermittent negative spikes just before the L-H transition. In some shots, dithering was observed just before the L-H transition.