Characterization of mesoscopic turbulent transport events with long-radial-range correlation in DIII-D H-mode plasmas

A dimensionless collisionality scan has been performed in H-mode plasmas on DIII-D tokamak, with detailed measurements of intermediate-to-high wavenumber turbulence using Doppler backscattering systems. It is found that the shorter wavelength turbulence develops into spatially asymmetric turbulent structures with a long-radial-range correlation (LRRC) in the mid-radius region of high collisionality discharges. Linear cgyro simulations indicate that the underlying turbulence is likely driven by the electron-temperature-gradient mode. The LRRC transport events are highly intermittent and show a power spectrum of $S n ̃ ( k ⊥ ) ∝ k ⊥ − 1$ for density fluctuations, which is often associated with self-organized criticality. The magnitude and the radial scale of those turbulent structures increase significantly when the $E r × B$ mean flow shearing rate decreases at higher collisionality. The enhanced LRRC transport events appear to be correlated with the degraded energy confinement time. The emergence of such LRRC transport events may serve as a candidate explanation for the degrading nature of H-mode core plasma confinement at high collisionality.