arXiv, 2023
DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2303.00059
American Institute of Physics, Physics of Plasmas, 7(30), 2023
DOI: 10.1063/5.0148172
A dimensionless collisionality scan has been performed in H-mode plasmas on DIII-D tokamak, with detailed measurements of intermediate-to-high wavenumber turbulence using Doppler backscattering systems. It is found that the shorter wavelength turbulence develops into spatially asymmetric turbulent structures with a long-radial-range correlation (LRRC) in the mid-radius region of high-collisionality discharges. Linear \textsc{cgyro} simulations indicate that the underlying turbulence is likely driven by the electron-temperature-gradient (ETG) mode. The LRRC transport events are highly intermittent and show a power spectrum of \(S_{\tilde{n}}(k_⊥) ∝ k^{-1}_⊥\) for density fluctuations, which is often associated with self-organized criticality. The magnitude and the radial scale of those turbulent structures increase significantly when the $E_{r}\times B$ mean flow shearing rate decreases. The enhanced LRRC transport events appear to be correlated with the degraded energy confinement time. The emergence of such LRRC transport events may serve as a candidate explanation for the degrading nature of \emph{H}-mode core plasma confinement at high collisionality.