Experimental study of the characteristics of energetic electrons outside LCFS in EXL-50 spherical torus

Abstract Significant number of confined energetic electrons have been observed outside of the LCFS (last-closed flux surface) of EXL-50’s solenoid-free electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) sustained plasmas. Several measurement technologies have been applied to verify the key characteristics of energetic electrons for the first time. Experiments reveal that the presence of high-temperature, low-density electrons can carry relatively large quantities of the stored energy. The boundary between the thermal plasma and the energetic fluid is clearly separated and the distance between the two boundaries can reach tens of centimeters (around the size of the minor radius of the thermal plasma). This implies that the Grad-Shafranov equilibrium is not adequate to describe the equilibrium of EXL-50 plasma and a multi-fluid model is required. Particle simulations of full orbits show that energetic electrons can be well confined outside the LCFS. This is consistent with the experimental observations.