Transition characteristics, fluctuation evolution, and the role of coherent mode in electron cyclotron resonance heated low to high mode transition in KSTAR

An experimental study is conducted on macro- and microscopic characteristics of low to high (LH) transition acquired by electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) in KSTAR. A scan of pre-transition density demonstrates the existence of the characteristic minimum density, which requires minimum power to make LH transition. The minimum density in KSTAR shows a tendency to be lower than that evaluated from an empirical scaling law proposed by Ryter et al. [Nucl. Fusion 54, 083003 (2014)]. A comprehensive study of the evolution of low wavenumber electron temperature fluctuations is carried out using electron cyclotron emission imaging diagnostics. An analysis of the fluctuation amplitude in L-mode in terms of the electron collisionality and the electron temperature scaling length suggests that the dissipative trapped electron mode is likely to be a dominant instability before the LH transition. The fluctuation amplitude reduces first as the transition starts. A coherent mode that chirps down from 60 to 20 kHz emerges when the transition further develops. This coherent mode is then shown to revive turbulence that has been reduced significantly during the initial stage of the LH transition. The revival of turbulence could be a possible origin of the absence of the large edge localized mode when the coherent mode is persistent in ECRH-induced H-mode plasmas.