Global gyrokinetic stability of collisionless microtearing modes in large aspect ratio tokamaks

Linear full radius gyrokinetic calculations show the existence of unstable microtearing modes (MTMs) in purely collisionless, high temperature, large aspect ratio tokamak plasmas. The present study takes into account fully gyrokinetic highly passing ions and electrons. The global 2-D structures of the collisionless mode with full radius coupling of the poloidal modes is obtained and compared with another electromagnetic mode, namely, the Alfven Ion Temperature Gradient (AITG) mode (or Kinetic Ballooning Mode, KBM) for the same equilibrium profile. Several important characteristics of the modes are brought out and compared, such as a clear signature in the symmetry properties of the two modes, the plasma-beta dependence, and radial and poloidal length scales of the electrostatic and magnetic vector potential fluctuations. Extensive parameter scans for this collisionless microtearing mode reveal the scaling of the growth rate with beta and the electron temperature gradient eta(e). Scans at different beta values show an inverse relationship between the ge threshold and beta, leading to a stability diagram, and implying that the mode might exist at moderate to strong temperature gradients for finite beta plasmas in large aspect ratio tokamaks. In contrast to small aspect ratio tokamaks where the trapped electron magnetic drift resonance is found to be important, in large aspect ratio tokamaks, a strong destabilization due to the magnetic drift resonance of passing electrons is observed and is identified as a possible collisionless drive mechanism for the collisionless MTM. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.