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The diffusion coefficient in the edge plasma of fusion devices is measured by a new technique. The method is based on studying the decay of the plasma fluctuation spectrum inside the so-called “Ball-pen probe”: a small ceramic tube having its mouth flush with a magnetic surface and a movable electrode inside the tube. When the electrode protrudes from the tube, the measured signal shows the floating potential fluctuations of the plasma or the ion saturation current outside the tube. Retracting the electrode into the tube, the power spectrum of the signal displays an exponential decay that is different for different frequencies. Assuming a mainly diffusive behaviour of the plasma inside the tube, the spectrum decay length can be used to derive the value of the diffusion coefficient. The measurements were performed at several radial positions in the CASTOR edge region for three different values of Btor. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

By taking advantage of the inherent difference between the gyro-radii of ions and electrons in a magnetised plasma, we developed a method to measure the plasma potential directly. The principle is based on the concept of the Katsumata probe. The probe collector is hidden inside a tube which screens an adjustable fraction of the electron flux whereas it lets pass most of the ions. In this paper an arrangement of three Katsumata-type probes with different diameters is used in the edge plasma region of the CASTOR tokamak to investigate the influence of the dimension of the probe. The results show almost no influence of the probe diameter on the values of the plasma potential. © Institute of Physics, Academy of Sciences of Czech Republic 2006.

Simultaneous measurements of the ion temperature by the segmented tunnel and Katsumata probe in the CASTOR tokamak are reported. The segmented tunnel probe measures two ion saturation currents Iseg 1, Iseg 2 towards two segments of the tunnel. The axis of the tunnel is aligned with the total magnetic field. The value of the ratio of these two currents combined with the results of the PIC modeling provides the ion temperature. Design and experimental arrangement of the Katsumata probe enable us to measure the pure ion current by sweeping the applied voltage. The ion temperature is then estimated from the exponential part of the measured I – V characteristic. Simultaneous measurements of the ion temperature by the segmented tunnel and Katsumata probe agree within a few eV. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Localised ion temperature measurements can only be performed with special electric probes where the electron component of the current is kept off from the collector. In a strong magnetic field the effect can be utilised that the electron gyro-radius is much smaller than that of the ions. This method was developed by Katsumata and Okazaki (Japan J. Appl. Phys. 6, 123 (1967)). We have used a so-called tunnel probe (which consists of a conductive tunnel, terminated by an isolated back plate) by adding a diaphragm in front. Thereby the tunnel is prevented from incident electrons at any potential of both electrodes. By sweeping the potential across the tunnel, the perpendicular ion temperature can be inferred. By segmenting the tunnel axially in two parts also the parallel ion temperature can be determined. When the electrodes are biased to ion saturation, the ratio between the ion currents, which reach the first and the second segment, respectively, is a measure for the parallel ion temperature. The dependence of the ratio of the currents has to be determined by a PIC simulation.