Heat convection and transport barriers in low-magnetic-shear Rijnhuizen Tokamak Project plasmas

Layers of reduced electron heat transport ("transport barriers") have been observed in the Rijnhuizen Tokamak Project when the plasma is dominantly heated by electron cyclotron heating (ECH). Experiments into the properties of the transport barriers are reported. Modulation of the ECH power was used to probe electron heat transport in the barriers by means of propagating electron temperature perturbations. The observed propagation shows that transport inside the barriers is dominated by heat convection. This convection is inward, i.e., up the temperature gradient.