THE FORMATION AND EVOLUTION OF NEGATIVE CENTRAL MAGNETIC SHEAR CURRENT PROFILES ON DIII-D

Using the combination of early neutral beam injection, ramping of the plasma current, low electron density and controlled L-H transitions, r obust discharges with negative central magnetic shear are reproducibly obtained on the DIII-D tokamak. The effects of these factors on the f ormation and evolution of the q profile during the initial phase of th ese discharges are documented. Details of the evolution of the inverte d q profile are obtained from measurements of the internal field pitch using a 16-channel motional Stark effect (MSE) system. Time-dependent MSE data are used to directly construct the profile of the toroidal e lectric field and allow a straightforward calculation of the non-induc tive current density profile.