Current Status of Large Helical Device and Its Prospect for Deuterium Experiment

TLDR

The Large Helical Device project aims to achieve reactor‑relevant plasma conditions and advance plasma physics and fusion engineering, and this paper reports recent achievements and plans for an upgraded deuterium experiment. The upgrade of the LHD, incorporating a deuterium experiment, is planned to further improve plasma performance. Recent LHD experiments achieved an ion temperature of 8.1 keV at 1 × 10^19 m⁻³ through optimized wall conditioning and long‑pulse ICH, and an electron temperature of 10 keV at 1.6 × 10^19 m⁻³ via optimized ECH.

Abstract

Achievement of reactor relevant plasma condition in Helical type magnetic devices and exploration in its related plasma physics and fusion engineering are the aim of the Large Helical Device (LHD) project. In the recent experiments on LHD, we have achieved ion-temperature of 8.1 keV at 1 × 1019 m−3 by the optimization of wall conditioning using long pulse discharge by Ion Cyclotron Heating (ICH). The electron temperature of 10 keV at 1.6 × 1019 m−3 was also achieved by the optimization of Electron Cyclotron Heating (ECH). For further improvement in plasma performance, the upgrade of the Large Helical Device (LHD), including the deuterium experiment, is planned. In this paper, the recent achievements on LHD and the upgrade of LHD are described.