Calibration of Thomson scattering systems using electron cyclotron emission cutoff data

Abstract

An alternative method of absolute calibration of Thomson scattering (TS) systems is described. The method is based on the measurements of electron cyclotron emission (ECE) from the plasma. If the plasma density reaches some critical value the emission at some frequencies is cut off and an abrupt loss of signal is registered by the ECE diagnostic. These critical values are calculated from the frequencies of the ECE channels in which cutoffs are observed, using the dispersion relation for the wave propagation. The radial positions of the ECE channels are bound to the measured magnetic field in the tokamak and, therefore, are known. The derived critical density values at certain positions in plasma are used to calculate absolute calibration coefficients for the core TS system. For that data points from the TS diagnostic are interpolated in time and space to these critical density values. This calibration technique is implemented in situ on the Alcator C-Mod tokamak during plasma operation. We use a nine-channel ECE diagnostic to calibrate the eight-channel core TS system. The uncertainty of the TS density calibration is ⩽10%, which is less than that from the gas scattering calibrations. Good agreement exists between TS density profiles and measurements from the visible continuum diagnostic and interferometry. Given the wide availability of ECE diagnostics on most tokamaks and other fusion devices, this technique should be suitable on many other experiments.