Plasma diagnostic systems and methods used on the stellarator TJ-II

Abstract

The TJ-II is a heliac-type stellarator device with major radius of 1.5 m and averaged minor radius ⩽0.22 m that has been operated at CIEMAT, Madrid since 1998. Its full magnetic field is created by a system of poloidal, central, toroidal and vertical field coils, thus it possesses a fully 3-dimensional plasma structure and a bean-shaped plasma cross-section. Although this results in a complicated vacuum-vessel layout, it has excellent port access for diagnostics (96 portholes). During its initial operational phase, it was equipped with a limited set of essential diagnostics. Since then, a broad variety and large number of both passive and active diagnostics have been installed. The former include Hα monitors, light spectrometers, an electron cyclotron emission radiometer, X-ray filter monitors, neutral particle analysers, magnetic diagnostics, as well as cameras, among others, while the latter include various laser, atomic and ion beam based diagnostics, microwave probe beams, Langmuir probes plus impurity injection techniques. In this paper, after describing the TJ-II stellarator, its heating and fuelling systems, the diagnostic systems employed are outlined and discussed briefly here. Finally, results obtained with selected systems are highlighted.