Vacuum magnetic field mapping experiments for validated determination of the helical field coil location in stellarators

Understanding the behavior of plasmas in magnetic confinement fusion devices typically requires accurate knowledge of the magnetic field structure. In stellarator-type confinement devices, the helical magnetic field is produced by currents in external coils and may be traced experimentally in the absence of plasma through the experimental technique of vacuum magnetic field mapping. Field mapping experiments, such as these, were performed on the recently constructed compact toroidal hybrid to verify the range of accessible magnetic configurations, compare the actual magnetic configuration with the design configuration, and identify any vacuum field errors that lead to perturbations of the vacuum magnetic flux surfaces. Furthermore, through the use of a new coil optimization routine, modifications are made to the simulation coil model such that better agreement exists between the experimental and simulation results. An outline of the optimization procedure is discussed in conjunction with the results of one such optimization process performed on the helical field coil.