Equilibrium Reconstruction and Integration of EFIT with Diagnoses in J-TEXT Tokamak

The EFIT program is integrated with the high resolution laser polarimeter interferometer system(POLARIS), the soft X-ray imaging diagnostic system(SXR) and the electron cyclotron emission radiometer(ECE) in the J-TEXT tokamak. Then some internal information about Faraday angle and the position of safety factor q=1 can be obtained as a constraint to EFIT. The modified EFIT code is used to calculate the internal parameters such as flux function, safety factor q, pressure and current density.     

A precision control method for plasma electron density and Faraday rotation angle measurement on HL-2A

The precision of plasma electron density and Faraday rotation angle measurement is a key indicator for far-infrared laser interferometer/polarimeter plasma diagnosis.To improve the precision,a new multi-channel high signal-to-noise ratio HCOOH interferometer/polarimeter has been developed on the HL-2A tokamak.It has a higher level requirement for phase demodulation precision.This paper introduces an improved real-time fast Fourier transform algorithm based on the field programmable gate array,which significantly improves the precision.We also apply a real-time error monitoring module (REMM) and a stable error inhibiting module (SEIM) for precision control to deal with the weak signal.We test the interferometer/polarimeter system with this improved precision control method in plasma discharge experiments and simulation experiments.The experimental results confirm that the plasma electron density precision is better than 1/3600 fringe and the Faraday rotation angle measurement precision is better than 1/900 fringe,while the temporal resolution is 80 ns.This performance can fully meet the requirements of HL-2A.     

Fast Data Processing of a Polarimeter-Interferometer System on J-TEXT

A method of fast data processing has been developed to rapidly obtain evolution of the electron density profile for a multichannel polarimeter-interferometer system(POLARIS)on J-TEXT. Compared with the Abel inversion method, evolution of the density profile analyzed by this method can quickly offer important information. This method has the advantage of fast calculation speed with the order of ten milliseconds per normal shot and it is capable of processing up to 1 MHz sampled data, which is helpful for studying density sawtooth instability and the disruption between shots. In the duration of a flat-top plasma current of usual ohmic discharges on J-TEXT, shape factor u is ranged from 4 to 5. When the disruption of discharge happens, the density profile becomes peaked and the shape factor u typically decreases to 1.     

Reconstruction of the Density Profile for the EAST Tokamak Based on Polarimeter/Interferometer and Microwave Reflectometer Systems

A plasma density profile reconstruction procedure based on the Park matrix method has been developed for both circular and elongated plasma configuration on the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak(EAST).This method incorporates the line integrated electron density measured by the HCN interferometer and polarimeter/interferometer(POINT) system,the equilibrium fit(EFIT) based on magnetic measurements and the edge electron density profile provided by the microwave reflectometer.It is shown that when the magnetic flux surfaces are slightly corrected,the fitting error is less than 5% in comparison with the measurement data.     

The far-field plasma characteristics of LHT40 low-power Hall thruster for commercial aerospace applications

To achieve a better insight into the far-field plasma spatial distribution and evolution characteristics of the 300 W class low-power Hall thruster (LHT) for commercial aerospace applications,a dedicated and integrated plasma diagnostic system composed of seventeen Faraday cups (FC) and two triple Langmuir probes (TLP) is established to investigate the time-averaged in situ spatial distribution characteristics of far-field ions and electrons.The ion current density (ICD),plasma potential,plasma density,and electron temperature at 1000 mm downstream of 300 W class LHT for commercial aerospace applications in the azimuthal angle range of-90° to 90° were investigated under the conditions of different anode mass flow rates and discharge voltages.The results demonstrated that ICD,beam divergence angle,and mass utilization efficiency increased with increasing anode mass rate.The double-wings phenomenon was observed in the spatial distribution of ICD at large angles from the thruster axis,which is attributed to charge exchange collisions at increasing vacuum backpressure.The plasma electron temperature,electron density,and plasma potential parameters derived from the TLP decreased rapidly in the angle range from 0° to 30° and did not exhibit significant variations above 30°,which was also in good agreement with the results of the measured divergence angle of the FC.The discrepancy of average ion speed was calculated.The maximum error is better than 31.5％which checks the consistency between the TLP's results and that of FC to some extent.     

Measurement of electron density and electron temperature of a cascaded arc plasma using laser Thomson scattering compared to an optical emission spectroscopic approach

As advanced linear plasma sources, cascaded arc plasma devices have been used to generate steady plasma with high electron density, high particle flux and low electron temperature. To measure electron density and electron temperature of the plasma device accurately, a laser Thomson scattering(LTS) system, which is generally recognized as the most precise plasma diagnostic method, has been established in our lab in Dalian University of Technology. The electron density has been measured successfully in the region of 4.5?×?10(19)m~(-3) to7.1?×?10~(20)m~(-3) and electron temperature in the region of 0.18 eV to 0.58 eV. For comparison,an optical emission spectroscopy(OES) system was established as well. The results showed that the electron excitation temperature(configuration temperature) measured by OES is significantly higher than the electron temperature(kinetic electron temperature) measured by LTS by up to 40% in the given discharge conditions. The results indicate that the cascaded arc plasma is recombining plasma and it is not in local thermodynamic equilibrium(LTE). This leads to significant error using OES when characterizing the electron temperature in a non-LTE plasma.     

Real-Time Dynamic Spectrum Analysis for Plasma Electron Density and Faraday Rotation Angle Measurement on HL-2A

Electron density and Faraday rotation angle are important physical parameters in nuclear fusion research.To measure them simultaneously,the three-wave polarimeter/interferometer diagnostic system is applied.Both the final probe output signal and the reference signal contain three frequency components.The time-varying phase difference curve of each frequency component can be measured by the Real-time Dynamic Spectrum Analysis(RDSA)method based on Field-Programmable Gate Array(FPGA).The phase difference precision is better than 0.1° and the real-time feedback delay is less than 1 ms,which satisfy the requirements of HL-2A.     

Impact of core electron temperature on current profile broadening with radio-frequency wave heating and current drive in EAST

In recent EAST experiments, current profile broadening characterized by reduced internal inductance has been achieved by utilizing radio-frequency current drives (RFCD). In contrast to previous density scan experiments, which showed an outward shift of the current density profile of lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) in higher plasma density, the core electron temperature (Te(0)) is found to affect the LHCD current profile as well. According to equilibrium reconstruction, a significant increase in on-axis safety factor (q0) from 2.05 to 3.41 is observed by careful arrangement of RFCD. Simulations using ray-tracing code GENRAY and Fokker–Planck code CQL3D have been performed to thoroughly analyze the LHCD current profile, revealing the sensitivity of the LHCD current profile to Te(0). The LHCD current density tends to accumulate in the plasma core with higher current drive efficiency benefiting from higher Te(0). With a lower Te(0), the LHCD current profile broadens due to off-axis deposition of power density. The sensitivity of the power deposition and current profile of LHCD to Te(0) provides a promising way to effectively optimize current profile via control of the core electron temperature.     

The plume diagnostics of 30 cm ion thruster with an advanced plasma diagnostics system

In order to achieve a better understanding of plume characteristics of LIPS-300 ion thruster, the beam current density, ion energy and electron number density of LIPS-300 ion thruster plume are studied with an Advanced Plasma Diagnostics System(APDS) which allows for simultaneous in situ measurements of various properties characterizing ion thruster, such as plasma density, plasma potential, plasma temperature and ion beam current densities, ion energy distribution and so on. The results show that the beam current density distribution has a double‘wing' shape. The high energy ions were found in small scan angle, while low energy ions were found in greater scan angle. Electron number density has a similar shape with the beam current density distribution.     

Faraday angle of Linearly Polarized Waves along Magnetic Field in Magnetized Collisional Plasmas

In magnetized collisional plasmas, owing to the differences between attenuations of left- and right-handed polarized waves, the Faraday rotation angle differs from that in collisionaless plasmas. In this paper, the attenuation rates of left- and right-handed polarized waves are analyzed, and the Faraday angle is expressed by the real and imaginary parts of refractive index of the magnetized plasma, with clear physics meaning. Furthermore, the dependence of Faraday angle on collision frequency is calculated and discussed.     

Application of the Magnetic Surface Based PARK-Matrix Method in the HCOOH Laser Interferometry System on HL-2A

A new electron density profile reconstruction procedure based on the PARK-matrix method has been firstly exploited for the multi-chord formic acid(HCOOH, λ=432.5 μm) laser interferometry system on the HL-2A tokamak. According to the geometric coordinates of the magnetic surfaces reconstructed by the CF(current fitting) code and the assumption that the electron density between two adjacent magnetic surfaces is a constant, the local electron density is calculated layer by layer, and the electron density profile n_e(Z) can be determined, as well as the density profile n_e(R). The simulation result indicates that the error of the PARK-matrix method is acceptable for the four-chord HCOOH laser interferometer. In the applications, it shows that the reconstructed electron density profile agrees well with the microwave reflectometry measurement,and the sawtooth reversion radius is consistent with that deduced from the soft X-ray signals.Meanwhile, the electron density profiles with electron cyclotron resonance heating(ECRH) and supersonic molecular beam injection(SMBI) are also reconstructed and analyzed.     

Optical measurements and analytical modeling of magnetic field generated in a dieletric target

Polarization rotation of a probe pulse by the target is observed with the Faraday rotation method in the interaction of an intense laser pulse with a solid target.The rotation of the polarization plane of the probe pulse may result from a combined action of fused silica and diffused electrons.After the irradiation of the main pulse,the rotation angle changed significantly and lasted ～2 ps.These phenomena may imply a persistent magnetic field inside the target.An analytical model is developed to explain the experimental observation.The model indicates that a strong toroidal magnetic field is induced by an energetic electron beam.Meanwhile,an ionization channel is observed in the shadowgraph and extends at the speed of light after the irradiation of the main beam.The formation of this ionization channel is complex,and a simple explanation is given.     

Charge integration in external-beam PIXE

Direct measurements of the beam current in external-beam PIXE are difficult due to the ionization of air molecules. A method for indirect charge integration has been earlier presented by our research group. The method utilizes the light emission from air molecules excited by the particle beam. The light emission originates from the second positive band system in N₂. The light was measured with a photomultiplier tube. The geometry and the electronics have been improved during the six years that have passed since the method was taken into use. The current from the PM-tube is today about 210 times higher than the particle beam current measured by the means of a Faraday cup. This amplification is useful in the monitoring of small beam currents. The linearity and accuracy of the improved system are discussed.     

Non-Intrusive Magneto-Optic Detecting System for Investigations of Air Switching Arcs

In current investigations of electric arc plasmas, experiments based on modern testing technology play an important role. To enrich the testing methods and contribute to the understanding and grasping of the inherent mechanism of air switching arcs, in this paper, a nonintrusive detecting system is described that combines the magneto-optic imaging（MOI） technique with the solution to inverse electromagnetic problems. The detecting system works in a sequence of main steps as follows： MOI of the variation of the arc flux density over a plane, magnetic field information extracted from the magneto-optic（MO） images, arc current density distribution and spatial pattern reconstruction by inverting the resulting field data. Correspondingly, in the system, an MOI set-up is designed based on the Faraday effect and the polarization properties of light, and an intelligent inversion algorithm is proposed that involves simulated annealing（SA）.Experiments were carried out for high current（2 kA RMS） discharge cases in a typical low-voltage switchgear. The results show that the MO detection system possesses the advantages of visualization, high resolution and response, and electrical insulation, which provides a novel diagnostics tool for further studies of the arc.     

Investigations on the time evolution of the plasma density in argon electron-beam plasma at intermediate pressure

The time evolution of the argon electron-beam plasma at intermediate pressure and low electron beam intensity was presented.By applying the amplitude modulation with the frequency of 20 Hz on the stable beam current,the plasma evolution was studied.A Faraday cup was used for the measurement of the electron beam current and a single electrostatic probe was used for the measurement of the ion current.Experimental results indicated that the ion current was in phase with the electron beam current in the pressure range from 200 Pa to 3000 Pa and in the beam current range lower than 20 mA,the residual density increased approximately linearly with the maximum density in the log-log plot and the fitting coefficient was irrelative to the pressure.And then three kinds of kinetic models were developed and the simulated results given by the kinetic model,without the consideration of the excited atoms,mostly approached to the experimental results.This indicated that the effect of the excited atoms on the plasma density can be ignored at intermediate pressure and low electron beam current intensity,which can greatly simplify the kinetic model.In the end,the decrease of the plasma density when the beam current was suddenly off was studied based on the simplified model and it was found that the decease characteristic at intermediate pressure was approximate to the one at high pressure at low electron beam intensity,which was in good accordance with the experimental results.     

Experimental and simulation investigation of electrical and plasma parameters in a low pressure inductively coupled argon plasma

The electrical and plasma parameters of a low pressure inductively coupled argon plasma are investigated over a wide range of parameters(RF power, flow rate and pressure) by diverse characterizations. The external antenna voltage and current increase with the augment of RF power, whereas decline with the enhancement of gas pressure and flow rate conversely.Compared with gas flow rate and pressure, the power transfer efficiency is significantly improved by RF power, and achieved its maximum value of 0.85 after RF power injected excess125 W. Optical emission spectroscopy(OES) provides the local mean values of electron excited temperature and electron density in inductively coupled plasma(ICP) post regime, which vary in a range of 0.81 eV to 1.15 eV and 3.7×10~(16)m~(-3)to 8.7×10~(17)m~(-3)respectively. Numerical results of the average magnitudes of electron temperature and electron density in twodimensional distribution exhibit similar variation trend with the experimental results under different operating condition by using COMSOL Multiphysics. By comprehensively understanding the characteristics in a low pressure ICP, optimized operating conditions could be anticipated aiming at different academic and industrial applications.     

H- Beam Stripping Loss at Background Partial Pressure of Ar

It has been observed that H^- current could be improved by adding Ar to H2 plasma. But due to a slower pumping speed for Ar with the existing pumping scheme, the tank pressure will increase quickly during the length of a beam pulse. Since H^- stripping loss depends on the tank pressure and gas species, part of the H^- beam can be converted to H^0 and then H^0 can be converted into H^＋ with background H2 and Ar gas thickness. Therefore, the H^- beam current, measured by a Faraday cup, situated at a distance L from GG （ground grid）, will decrease because it will be converted into a H^＋ current. This gives a ratio of the Faraday cup net current to the H^- beam current before stripping at background partial pressure of Ar.     

The structure of an electronegative magnetized plasma sheath with non-extensive electron distribution

In this paper, an electronegative magnetized plasma sheath model with non-extensive electron distribution is established, and the Bohm criterion affected by the non-extensive parameter q is theoretically derived. The ion Mach number varies with q. The numerical simulation results show that compared with electronegative magnetized plasma sheath with Maxwell distribution (q = 1), the sheath structures with super-extensive distribution (q < 1) and sub-extensive distribution (q > 1) are different. The physical quantities including the sheath potential distribution, ion density distribution, the electron density distribution, negative ion density distribution and the net space charge density distribution are discussed. It is shown that the non-extensive parameter q has a significant influence on the structure of the electronegative magnetized plasma sheath. Due to the Lorentz force, both the magnitude and the angle of the magnetic field affect the structure of the sheath, whether the electrons are Maxwell distributed or non-extensively distributed.     

Design of the poloidal field system for KTX

The design of the poloidal field (PF) system includes the ohmic heating field system and the equilibrium (EQ) field system, and is the basis for the design of a magnetic confinement fusion device. A coupling between the poloidal and plasma currents, especially the eddy current in the stabilizing shell, yields design difficulties. The effects of the eddy current in the stabilizing shell on the poloidal magnetic field also cannot be ignored. A new PF system design is thus proposed. By using a low-μ material (μ=0.001, ε=1) instead of a conductive shell, an electromagnetic model is established that can provide a continuous eddy current distribution on the conductive shell. In this model, a 3D time-domain problem with shells translates into a 2D magnetostatic problem, and the accuracy of the calculation is improved. Based on these current distributions, we design the PF system and analyze how the EQ coils and conductive shell affect the plasma EQ when the plasma ramps up. To meet the mainframe design requirements and achieve an efficient power-supply design, the position and connection of the poloidal coils are optimized further.     

Real-Time Detection for Magnetic Island of Neoclassical Tearing Mode in EAST Plasma Control System

Accurate detection of a magnetic island in real time is one of the important issues for the tearing mode(TM) and neoclassical tearing mode(NTM) control.This paper presents a real-time detection system for the magnetic island of NTM control in the EAST Plasma Control System(PCS).Diagnosis is based on magnetic periodic perturbation and electron temperature fluctuation caused by the magnetic island.Therefore,a Mirnov measurement has been selected to calculate the island's parameters,such as island width,frequency of island rotation,and toroidal number.The electron cyclotron emission(ECE) system can detect the island position,which is calculated by two fast detection algorithms called correlation analysis and Hilbert transform.For future NTM control,real-time equilibrium reconstruction(rt-EFIT) is needed to locate the rational q-surface where the island is detected.This fast detection system is able to detect an island within 3 ms.It can be integrated into PCS to provide effective parameters of the island for NTM control by using EC resonance heating(ECRH) in the next experiment of EAST.