Direct measurements of internal structures of born-locked modes and the key role in triggering tokamak disruptions

The evolution of the magnetic topology between the outer separatrix of a large m = 2/n = 1 island (m and n: poloidal and toroidal numbers) and the last closed flux surface after mode locking is, for the first time, directly measured. Edge locked island chains with multiple helicity and very narrow widths are discovered to be destabilized and govern the cooling process in the plasma peripheral region. These edge small nonrotating islands are initially well separated from the 2/1 island, leading to a long quasistationary phase, but later trigger thermal quench immediately after they start to overlap with the 2/1 island, producing a broad stochastic layer deep into the plasma midradius.