Density limit of H-mode plasmas on JET-ILW

Abstract High-density discharges on JET with ITER-like Wall (ILW) have been analysed with the aim of establishing a mechanism for the H-mode density limit (DL) and compared with experiments in the JET carbon material configuration. The density limit is up to 20% higher in the JET-ILW than in the JET-C machine. The observed H-mode density limit is found close to the Greenwald limit. It is sensitive to the main plasma shape and is almost independent of the heating power. It has been observed that the transition from H-mode to L-mode is not always an abrupt event but may exhibit a series of H-L-H transitions, the so-called "dithering H-mode". It was observed that detachment, as well as the X-point MARFE itself, does not trigger the H-L transition and thus does not present a limit on the plasma density and that it is the plasma confinement which is ultimately responsible for the H-mode DL.