Modeling of neutron emission spectroscopy in JET discharges with fast tritons from (T)D ion cyclotron heating

Abstract

The measurement of fast ion populations is one of the diagnostic capabilities provided by neutron emission spectroscopy (NES). NES measurements were carried out during JET trace tritium campaign with the magnetic proton recoil neutron spectrometer. A favorable plasma scenario is (T)D where the resulting 14 MeV neutron yield is dominated by suprathermal emission from energetic tritons accelerated by radio frequency at their fundamental cyclotron frequency. Information on the triton distribution function has been derived from NES data with a simple model based on two components referred to as bulk (B) and high energy (HE). The HE component is based on strongly anisotropic tritium distribution that can be used for routine best-fit analysis to provide tail temperature values (THE). This article addresses to what extent the THE values are model dependent by comparing the model above with a two-temperature (bi-) Maxwellian model featuring parallel and perpendicular temperatures. The bi-Maxwellian model is strongly anisotropic and frequently used for radio frequency theory.