A new resistive Geodesic Acoustic Mode (GAM) theory is developed by two-fluids analysis and resistive gyro-kinetic formulation in this thesis. An analytical expression is obtained for the resistive GAM frequency. This theory suggests a large collision frequency will prohibit the parallel current in tokamak, which establishes the cross-field charge neutrality condition ∇·J⊥= 0 for the existence of GAM at the edge plasma of tokamak. Therefore, the resistive GAM theory provides a more plausible explanation to edge GAM phenomena. Various probe arrays are designed and installed in the STOR-M tokamak to search for the poloidal GAM phenomena. A series of experiments were conducted in the L-mode and RMP discharges. The FFT and wavelet analyses indicate the existence of GAM phenomena in STOR-M, and the observed GAM frequencies match the theoretical predication using the resistive GAM model.

The effect of changing edge safety factor on the toroidal flow of the STOR-M plasma has been investigated during the application of both resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) and compact torus injection (CTI). The edge safety factor was varied by varying the plasma current while keeping the toroidal field constant. A Czyner-Turner spectrometer was used to collect the spectral data from which the velocity of specific impurity ions was diagnosed. Time resolved velocity measurements were inferred from the Doppler wavelength shift of the emission lines. Impurity emission lines at different ionization stages are located at different radial locations within the STOR-M plasma. Properties of these impurity ions are assumed to be closely related the hydrogen ion (main working gas) due to the strong interaction among the ion species. Changing the edge safety factor has a similar effect on the toroidal flow of STOR-M plasma during discharges with both RMP and CTI. A velocity shear was discovered for different impurity ions. The toroidal flow is enhanced for edge ions while a reversal of flow is observed for core ions. As the edge safety factor reduces, the emission location for the core ions is located with q=2 surface and RMP has a significant impact on their toroidal flow velocity. It was also observed that CT injection has a significant effect on the toroidal velocity of the core ions compared to that of the edge ions. In addition, high plasma current (low safety factor) induced large change in the toroidal flow velocity of the STOR-M plasma.

Studies of resonant magnetic perturbations (RMP) have been an active topic in the tokamak research. The RMP technique involves the use of magnetic perturbations generated by external coils installed on a tokamak device. The resonant interaction between the plasma and RMP has favorable effects on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability and other plasma parameters in tokamaks. The RMP experiments are carried out in the Saskatchewan Torus-Modified (STOR-M) tokamak using (l = 2, n = 1) helical coils carrying a static current pulse. The effect of RMP on the (m = 2, n = 1) magnetic islands is examined during ohmic discharges with high MHD activities. The amplitude and frequency of (2, 1) Mirnov fluctuations are significantly reduced after application of RMP. A phase of improved plasma confinement, characterized by a reduction in the H_alpha emission level and an increase in the soft x-ray (SXR) emission, is induced after application of RMP. It is also observed using the ion Doppler spectroscopy (IDS) that RMP can strongly affect the plasma rotation in STOR-M. It is found that during the RMP pulse, the toroidal velocity of C_III impurities (located at the plasma edge) increases in the co-current direction. However, the toroidal velocities of O_V and C_VI impurities (located near the plasma core) change direction from counter-current to co-current. The reduction of the toroidal flow velocity is accompanied by a reduction of the MHD frequency. It is also found that radial profiles of ion saturation current and floating potential in the edge region can be modified by RMP. An increase in the pedestal plasma density and a more negative electric field are observed at the plasma edge region during the RMP pulse. An internal probe array is assembled and installed in STOR-M to study the RMP penetration and the plasma response to RMP.

While magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities are considered one of the intriguing topics in tokamak physics, a feasibility study was conducted in the Saskatchewan Torus-Modified (STOR-M) tokamak to investigate the global MHD activities during the normal (L-mode) and improved (H-mode) confinement regimes. The experimental setup consists of 32 discrete Mirnov coils arranged into four poloidal arrays and mounted on STOR-M at even toroidal distances. The perturbed magnetic field fluctuations during STOR-M discharges were acquired and processed by the Fourier transform (FT), the wavelet analysis and the singular value decomposition (SVD) techniques. In L-mode discharges, the poloidal MHD mode numbers varied from 2 to 4 with peak frequencies in the range 20-40 kHz. The dominant toroidal modes were reported between 1 and 2 oscillating at frequencies 15-35 kHz. In another experiment, a noticeable MHD suppression was observed during the H-mode-like phase induced by the compact torus (CT) injection into STOR-M. However, a burst-like mode called the gong mode was triggered prior to the H-L transition, followed by coherent Mirnov oscillations. Mirnov oscillations with strong amplitude modulations were observed in the STOR-M tokamak. Correlations between Mirnov signals and soft x-ray (SXR) signals were found.

While magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities are considered one of the intriguing topics in tokamak physics, a feasibility study was conducted in the Saskatchewan Torus-Modified (STOR-M) tokamak to investigate the global MHD activities during the normal (L-mode) and improved (H-mode) confinement regimes. The experimental setup consists of 32 discrete Mirnov coils arranged into four poloidal arrays and mounted on STOR-M at even toroidal distances. The perturbed magnetic field fluctuations during STOR-M discharges were acquired and processed by the Fourier transform (FT), the wavelet analysis and the singular value decomposition (SVD) techniques. In L-mode discharges, the poloidal MHD mode numbers varied from 2 to 4 with peak frequencies in the range 20-40 kHz. The dominant toroidal modes were reported between 1 and 2 oscillating at frequencies 15-35 kHz. In another experiment, a noticeable MHD suppression was observed during the H-mode-like phase induced by the compact torus (CT) injection into STOR-M. However, a burst-like mode called the gong mode was triggered prior to the H-L transition, followed by coherent Mirnov oscillations. Mirnov oscillations with strong amplitude modulations were observed in the STOR-M tokamak. Correlations between Mirnov signals and soft x-ray (SXR) signals were found.