Effect of electrode biasing on m/n = 2/1 tearing modes in J-TEXT experiments

The effects of electrode biasing (EB) on the m/n = 2/1 tearing mode have been experimentally studied in J-TEXT tokamak discharges, where m and n are the poloidal and toroidal mode numbers. It is found that for a negative bias voltage, the mode amplitude is reduced, and the mode frequency is increased accompanied by the increased toroidal plasma rotation speed in the counter-I _p direction. For a positive bias voltage, the mode frequency is decreased together with the change of the rotation velocity towards the co-I _p direction, and the mode amplitude is increased. Statistic results show that the variations in the toroidal rotation speed, the 2/1 mode frequency and its amplitude linearly depend on the bias voltage. The threshold voltages for complete suppression and locking of the mode are found. The experimental results suggest that applied electrode biasing is a possible method for the avoidance of mode locking and disruption.