Formations of radial electric fields and critical temperature gradients in ion temperature gradient driven trapped electron mode turbulence

Idomura, Yasuhiro   

Decaying turbulence simulations of ion temperature gradient driven (ITG) turbulence with adiabatic electrons and ion temperature gradient driven trapped electron mode (ITG-TEM) turbulence with kinetic electrons are performed using a full-f gyrokinetic code. Nonlinear critical temperature gradients exceeding linear critical temperature gradients are observed in both simulations, and mechanisms to sustain them are investigated. It is found that unlike zonal flows in the ITG turbulence, the ITG-TEM turbulence produces corrugated electron density profiles, which form radial electric fields with strong shear following a force balance relation.