Edge Plasma Transport in the Helical Divertor Configuration in LHD

To understand the edge plasma transport in the complex magnetic field lines structure in the LHD heliotoron, the heat and particle fluxes profiles on divertor plates were investigated experimentally and theoretically by using EMC3‐EIRENE code. The heat flux profiles on a divertor plate in different magnetic configuration were measured and the main channel of the heat transport was revealed to be the field lines with long connection lengths which connect the divertor plate and the stochastic field lines layer. A comparison of the heat and the ion fluxes profiles on the divertor plates between the experimental data and the results of the calculation using EMC3‐EIRENE code was conducted. It was revealed that the change of the cross‐field transport in the edge plasma region causes not only the change of the heat and particle flux profiles on divertor plates, but also the changes of the intrinsically non‐uniform global heat and particle deposition profiles on the helical diveror. The cross‐field transport seems to be larger in the higher edge electron temperature discharge in the experimental conditions in this paper (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)