Sawtooth stabilisation by fast ions is investigated in deuterium (D) and D-helium 3 (He3) plasmas of JET heated by deuterium Neutral Beam Injection combined in synergy with Ion Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ICRH) applied on-axis at 3rd beam cyclotron harmonic. A very significant increase in the sawtooth period is observed, caused by the ICRH-acceleration of the beam ions born at 100 keV to the MeV energy range. Four representative sawteeth from four different discharges are compared with Porcelli's model. In two discharges, the sawtooth crash appears to be triggered by core-localized Toroidal Alfvén Eigenmodes inside the q = 1 surface (also called “tornado” modes) which expel the fast ions from within the q = 1 surface, over time scales comparable with the sawtooth period. Two other discharges did not exhibit fast ion-driven instabilities in the plasma core, and no degradation of fast ion confinement was found in both modelling and direct measurements of fast ion profile with the neutroncamera. The developed sawtooth scenario without fast ion-driven instabilities in the plasma core is of high interest for the burning plasmas. Possible causes of the sawtooth crashes on JET are discussed.

This work has been carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium, has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under Grant Agreement No 633053, and was partly funded by the RCUK Energy Programme [Grant No. EP/I501045]. The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission. The authors would like to thank Torbj € orn Hellsten for fruitful discussion.

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