Gas puff imaging of plasma turbulence in the magnetic island scrape-off layer of W7-X

The turbulence characteristics of the scrape-off-layer (SOL) plasma in the W7-X stellarator are investigated using a gas-puff-imaging (GPI) diagnostic, newly installed and operated during the OP 2.1 campaign. The SOL plasma on W7-X features a chain of magnetic islands intersected by discrete divertor plates at five separate toroidal locations, forming a set of island divertors for heat and particle exhaust. GPI measures 2D emission fluctuations in the magnetic island plasma. A dedicated experiment was conducted to characterize the broadband turbulence and filament dynamics in the island divertor SOL in the standard magnetic configuration. This involves shifting the poloidal location of the magnetic island with respect to the GPI field of view. Overall, initial analyses confirm minimal intermittent type fluctuations, compared to tokamaks. A relationship between the radial profile of the connection length and the sheared poloidal flow structure is discussed. Turbulence statistical analyses reveal poloidal asymmetry of the fluctuation properties and a birth region of intermittent fluctuations indicated by skewness reversal. Their birth locations appear sensitive to plasma conditions. Finally, 2D cross-correlation analysis is presented to study turbulence propagation in the presence of multiple shear layers in the poloidal flows, showing a dominant poloidal motion and evidencing a shear effect.