Effects of drifts on divertor plasma transport in LHD

Abstract An asymmetric plasma particle load on divertortiles located at positions of symmetric magnetic field linesstructure has been investigated in the Large Helical Device(LHD). The asymmetryreverses with reversing the toroidalmagnetic field direction. This suggests that drifts affect the asymmetry. It is found that the degree of the asymmetrydepends on the electron temperaturein the edge plasma and on the toroidalmagnetic field strength. The degree of the asymmetrybecomes large and then saturates with an increase of electron temperature. In the lower magnetic field discharge, the degree of the asymmetryis larger. The mass dependence of the asymmetryis not clear among hydrogen, deuterium and helium. Results presented suggests that E  ×  B drift plays a role in formation of the asymmetry.