Search

The Xe44+ 2.7203 Å line, which has been proposed as one of the diagnostic lines for the x-ray imaging crystal spectrometer on ITER, is observed on the EAST tokamak together with its several satellite lines. The observations are made under high electron temperature (T e ) conditions (core T e > 5 keV). Most of the observed xenon lines are identified by comparing the experiment results with the atomic simulation results. The first ion temperature measurements made by the xenon spectra on EAST are also reported in this article. These xenon spectra observations contribute to the justification for using xenon as the diagnostic impurity in x-ray crystal spectrometers in future reactor-scale high-temperature plasmas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spectroscopic studies of medium and high Z impurities have been the subject of interest in fusion research due to their role in mitigating plasma disruption and reducing heat load on the plasma facing components. Line emissions from these impurities provide the rotation velocity and ion temperature measurements along with the understanding of the overall impurity behavior in plasma. In the Aditya-U tokamak, the spatially resolved Ar II line emissions have been observed using a high resolution multi-track spectroscopic diagnostic consisting of a 1 m Czerny–Turner spectrometer coupled with a charge coupled device (CCD) detector using seven lines of sight viewing plasma tangentially along the toroidal direction. The spatially resolved Ar II lines at 458.96 nm have been observed. The singly ionized Ar emission peaks at the radial location of ρ = 0.8 of the plasma having a minor radius of 25 cm. Moreover, a 0.5 m UV–visible spectrometer coupled with a CCD detector and having a line of sight passing through the plasma midplane from the radial port was used to record visible Ar survey spectra within the 670–810 nm wavelength range, and all these lines have been identified for further analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent inertial confinement fusion measurements have highlighted the importance of 3D asymmetry effects on implosion performance. One prominent example is the bulk drift velocity of the deuterium–tritium plasma undergoing fusion ("hotspot"), vHS. Upgrades to the National Ignition Facility neutron time-of-flight diagnostics now provide vHS to better than 1 part in 104 and enable cross correlations with other measurements. This work presents the impact of vHS on the neutron yield, downscatter ratio, apparent ion temperature, electron temperature, and 2D x-ray emission. The necessary improvements to diagnostic suites to take these measurements are also detailed. The benefits of using cross-diagnostic analysis to test hotspot models and theory are discussed, and cross-shot trends are shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ion Doppler Spectroscopy (IDS) is a diagnostic technique that measures plasma ion temperature and velocity without perturbing the plasma with a physical probe. The ZaP-HD Flow Z-Pinch Experiment at the University of Washington uses this technique to resolve radial temperature and velocity profiles of a Z-pinch plasma. The pinch lifetime is ∼100 µs; therefore, diagnostics capable of sub-microsecond resolution are required to measure the evolution of temperature and velocity profiles. The previous IDS diagnostic system was only capable of collecting a single measurement during a plasma pulse. An improved system has been developed to measure the radially resolved ion temperature and velocity for the entire Z-pinch lifetime. A Kirana 05M ultra-fast framing camera and Specialized Imaging lens ultraviolet intensifier are used to record up to 100 spectra per plasma pulse. The temperature is computed from Doppler broadening of the carbon-III (229.687 nm) impurity ion radiation, and the velocity is computed from the Doppler shift of carbon-III. Measurements are able to resolve the evolution of the ion temperature and velocity over the course of a plasma pulse. The diagnostic has significantly reduced the number of pulses required and provides a more coherent measurement of plasma dynamics than the previous system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The possibility of performing electron density and temperature measurements in a high power helicon plasma is a crucial issue in the framework of the AWAKE (Advanced WAKefield Experiment) project, which demonstrates acceleration of particles using $\text{GeV}~\text{m}^{-1}$ electric fields in plasmas. For AWAKE, a helicon is currently envisaged as a candidate plasma source due to its capability for low electron and ion temperature, high electron density and production of an elongated plasma column. A plasma diagnostic to accurately determine the electron density in AWAKE regimes would be a valuable supporting tool. A demonstration Thomson scattering (TS) diagnostic was installed and successfully tested on the resonant antenna ion device (RAID) at the Swiss Plasma Center of Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. RAID produces a helicon plasma column with characteristics similar to those of the AWAKE helicon source, and is therefore an optimal testbed for application to the AWAKE device. The spectrometer employed in RAID is based on polychromators which collect the light scattered by plasma electrons in spectrally filtered wavelength regions. Results from TS on RAID demonstrate conditions of electron density and temperature respectively of $n_{e}=1.10\,(\pm 0.19)\times 10^{19}~\text{m}^{-3}$ and $T_{e}=2.3\,(\pm 0.6)~\text{eV}$ in a steady-state discharge in an Ar plasma with 5 kW of RF power. If the same polychromator system is used for AWAKE, where the electron density attained is $2\times 10^{20}~\text{m}^{-3}$ , the contribution to measurement error due to coherent scattering is ${\sim}2.5\,\%$. Presented here are details of the TS diagnostic and the first tests in RAID, and the expectations for the system when employed on the AWAKE device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A modification of the neutron activation method for the diagnostics of deuterium–tritium plasma of powerful pulsed fusion facilities is proposed. The method allows one to determine the effective plasma ion temperature by width of the spectral distribution of generated DT neutrons. The physical basis of the method and conditions for its implementation are described and methods for the calibration of measuring channels sensitivity are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive information, such as ion temperature and wave-particle interactions, can be obtained by the direct measurement of ion distribution functions using laser-induced fluorescence (LIF). This nonintrusive plasma diagnostics provides an important window into the ion motions in phase-space. Previous simulation results suggest that LIF measurements, which are performed on metastable ions produced directly from neutral gas particles and also from ions in other electronic states, place restrictions on the metastable lifetime. In the case where metastable population is produced from direct ionization of neutral atoms, the velocity distribution measured using LIF will only faithfully represent processes which act on the ion dynamics in a time shorter than the metastable lifetime. In this paper, the metastable lifetime effects are explored experimentally for the first time using wave-particle interaction in an Argon multidipole plasma. We demonstrate that this systematic effect can be corrected using the theory addressed in this paper based on the metastable lifetime and relative fraction of metastables produced from pre-existing ions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beam emission spectroscopy (BES) is a powerful plasma diagnostic method especially suited for the measurement of plasma density and its fluctuations. As such, synthetic BES codes are regularly used to aid the design or utilization of these diagnostic systems. However, synthetic diagnostics can also be used to study the method in previously not yet explored operational conditions. This paper presents such an analysis utilizing the RENATE-OD synthetic diagnostic code for a hypothetical alkali BES system on the HSX stellarator. HSX is a device featuring an unusual operating regime in the world of fusion devices due to the low ion temperature and low plasma density. It was found that BES shows unusual tendencies in these conditions. The relation between beam energy and plasma penetration in low-ion-temperature plasma, together with unique emission features facilitated by low-density plasma, and the underlying reasons behind these features are explored in this paper. • BES modeling in HSX-like plasma was performed for the first time with RENATE-OD. • Good SNR for turbulence measurements is expected over entire plasma. • Low ion temperature leads to unusual effects in the attenuation of alkali beams. • Low plasma density allows temperature changes to be reflected by beam emission. • Possibilities explored in HSX-like experiments or Super-X-like divertors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Ionospheric Connections Explorer (ICON) payload includes an Ion Velocity Meter (IVM) to provide measurements of the ion drift motions, density, temperature and major ion composition at the satellite altitude near 575 km. The primary measurement goal for the IVM is to provide the meridional ion drift perpendicular to the magnetic field with an accuracy of 7.5 m s for all daytime conditions encountered by the spacecraft within $15^{\circ }$ of the magnetic equator. The IVM will derive this parameter utilizing two sensors, a retarding potential analyzer (RPA) and an ion drift meter (IDM) that have a robust and successful flight heritage. The IVM described here incorporates improvements in the design and operation to produce the most sensitive device that has been fielded to date. It will specify the ion drift vector, from which the component perpendicular to the magnetic field will be derived. In addition it will specify the total ion density, the ion temperature and the fractional ion composition. These data will be used in conjunction with measurements from the other ICON instruments to uncover the important connections between the dynamics of the neutral atmosphere and the ionosphere through the generation of dynamo currents perpendicular to the magnetic field and collisional forces parallel to the magnetic field. Here the configuration and operation of the IVM instrument are described, as well as the procedures by which the ion drift velocity is determined. A description of the subsystem characteristics, which allow a determination of the expected uncertainties in the derived parameters, is also given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]