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Measurement of the plasma generated diamagnetic flux on tokamak à configuration variable (TCV) is used to derive the plasma pressure, as on other magnetic confinement experiments. However, specificities of the device make the measurement more difficult: for passive stabilization of the vertical position of highly elongated plasmas, the vessel has a low electrical resistivity, leading to large image currents in the vessel. For the same reason the plasma must also be kept close to the conducting wall, so that the in-vessel double loop method usually used to compensate for these currents cannot be applied. In order to achieve proper compensation, the diamagnetic measurement diagnostic on TCV uses the signal from a single loop wound outside the vessel in combination with appropriate signal processing that accurately matches the fast component of the induced vessel current. This allows extraction of the plasma diamagnetic flux with a remarkable bandwidth, of ∼10 kHz, and with the required accurate compensation of 0.05 mWb out of 2 Wb. As a result, rapid changes in plasma pressure can be studied, for example during additional heating power modulation or fast plasma instabilities. © 2003 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An accurate and reliable measurement of poloidal β is essential to assess the performances of Joint European Torus (JET). The diamagnetic loop can measure β values as low as 0.1 in JET discharges with a plasma current larger than 2 × 10[sup 6] A. The instrumentation used includes a flux loop rigidly fitted on a toroidal field (TF) coil, a large Rogowski coil measuring the TF busbar current, and a displacement gauge measuring the TF coil expansion. The fluxes to be compensated originate, in order of importance, from the TF current, the eddy current in the vessel, the TF coil expansion, and the stray coupling with the poloidal fields. The TF and eddy currents must be particularly well compensated on JET since the plasma current starts before the toroidal field has reached its plateau value. Comparison between the diamagnetic and other evaluations of β shows a good agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]