Error field mode studies on JET, COMPASS-D and DIII-D, and implications for ITER

New experiments on JET, COMPASS-D and DIII-D have identified the critical scalings of error field sensitivity and harmonic content effects, enabling predictions to be made of the requirements for larger devices such as ITER. Thresholds are lowest at low density, a regime proposed for H mode access on ITER. Results suggest a moderate error field sensitivity (δB/B ≈ 10-4) for ITER, comparable with the size of its intrinsic error, although there are uncertainties in scaling behaviour. Other studies on COMPASS-D and DIII-D show that sideband harmonics to the (2, 1) component play an important role. Thus, a correction system for ITER will be important, with flexibility to correct sidebands desirable, possibly assisted by beam rotation. Such a system has been designed and is capable of reducing multiple harmonic error levels to ∼ 2 × 10-5.