Measurements of poloidal rotation velocity using cross-correlation spectroscopy in the H-1 heliac

Abstract

A correlation spectroscopy diagnostic [M.G. Shats and J. Howard, Fusion Eng. Des. 34–35, 271 (1997)] measures fluctuation spectra and local fluctuation intensities in a radiation-dominated plasma, such as the low-temperature plasma in the H-1 heliac (Te<50 eV, ne<2×1018 m−3). When the fluctuation coherence lengths in the poloidal and radial directions are shorter than the plasma radius, the cross-correlation function of the two crossed-sightline fluctuating intensities contains information about the fluctuations amplitude and their phase in the intersection volume. The optical setup on the H-1 heliac uses two nearly orthogonal views to image 20 optical fibers arranged into two linear arrays in the plasma poloidal cross section. A matrix of 10×10 cross-correlation functions is then analyzed to determine the poloidal phase velocity of the fluctuations, poloidal and radial correlation lengths, and the radial profiles of the fluctuations intensity. The results on the poloidal propagation velocity measured using the cross-correlation technique (time delay of the cross-correlation functions) are compared with the poloidal velocity measured using poloidally separated probes in the plasma. Both velocities are found to be in good agreement and also agree well with the E×B drift velocity in this plasma.