Neutrals studies on Alcator C-Mod

The high neutral densities and short neutral mean free paths in the Alcator C-Mod divertor have provided a unique testing ground for our understanding of the role of neutrals in a tokamak. The high neutral pressures found in the C-Mod divertor can only be reproduced in models by including such collisional processes as ion-neutral and neutral-neutral collisions, neutral viscosity, as well as taking into account the plasma in the private flux region. After detachment, when the divertor plate ion flux has dropped by over an order of magnitude, the divertor pressure still remains high. High neutral collisionality and the plasma in the private flux region again help keep neutrals in the divertor along with the large source of neutrals due to recombination. Likewise, diffusive neutrals are the explanation for the divertor neutral pressure’s insensitivity to strike point position. Closure of neutral leakage pathways did not lead to a decrease in neutral pressures in the region outside the divertor – the main chamber. This observation prompted further research which showed that ion fluxes to main chamber surfaces rival those reaching the divertor plates; the main chamber pressure can be primarily determined by the level of ion transport perpendicular to the magnetic field. This finding has spawned a host of studies (active and passive) both at C-Mod and other tokamaks to understand how radial transport can be so