Measurements of visible bremsstrahlung and automatic Bayesian inference of the effective plasma charge Zeff at W7-X

Abstract

The effective charge Zeff indicates the overall impurity contamination of a plasma. Zeff can be derived experimentally from the intensity of the plasma bremsstrahlung emission. We describe here the diagnostic set-ups and the Bayesian modeling allowing the inference of Zeff at W7-X. First results from the operational campaigns in 2017 and 2018 are shown. Measurements of the visible plasma radiation along a single line-of-sight traversing the core plasma has been carried out using a compact USB-spectrometer with a time resolution of 100 ms. A spectral region (627–641 nm) that is free from line emission is selected for the analysis of the bremsstrahlung emission, which also depends on electron temperature and density profiles. Electron temperature profiles are derived from either the electron cyclotron emission or the Thomson scattering diagnostic. Electron density profiles, however, have their shape information derived from Thomson scattering measurements and absolute values from single line-of-sight interferometry measurements. The Minerva framework is used to infer the profiles with Gaussian processes and develop a Bayesian model of the bremsstrahlung emission to infer line averaged Zeff. The sensitivity of the diagnostic enables Zeff measurements down to the lowest core electron densities observed in the last campaign of 0.75×1019 m−3 with a statistical relative error of ≈50% (Zeff = 3.2, 100 ms integration time). The analysis is automated to routinely compute Zeff after every plasma discharges.