Observation of the<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>L</mml:mi><mml:mtext>−</mml:mtext><mml:mi>H</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:math>Confinement Bifurcation Triggered by a Turbulence-Driven Shear Flow in a Tokamak Plasma

Comprehensive 2D turbulence and eddy flow velocity measurements on DIII-D demonstrate a rapidly increasing turbulence-driven shear flow that develops ∼100 μs prior to the low-confinement (L mode) to high-confinement (H mode) transition and appears to trigger it. These changes are localized to a narrow layer 1-2 cm inside the magnetic boundary. Increasing heating power increases the Reynolds stress, the energy transfer from turbulence to the poloidal flow, and the edge flow shearing rate that then exceeds the decorrelation rate, suppressing turbulence and triggering the transition.