Lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) with modest powers ( 10% of the total power input) has been used for the first time to completely stabilize performance limiting neoclassical tearing modes in many COMPASS-D tokamak discharges. The stabilizing effect in these experiments is consistent with a reduction in the free energy available in the current profile to drive tearing modes (i.e., the stability index, D 0 ) resulting from favorable current gradients (from the LHCD driven current) around the rational surface.
