Proposal for measuring magnetic fluctuations in tokamaks by Thomson scattering

Abstract

Thomson scattering is proposed for the direct measurement of magnetic field fluctuations in a tokamak. The analysis is based on the electron fluid equations. The ordering λ≪λturb≪a, where λ and λturb are the incident and turbulence wavelengths, respectively, and a is the torus minor radius, is suggested by spectral information from observations on the TEXT tokamak, as well as general theoretical arguments. With this ordering, temperature effects are unimportant and an expression is derived for probe radiation-induced plasma polarization that depends upon density and magnetic fluctuations only. By choosing the incident probe beam to have its plane of polarization parallel to the local mean magnetic field B0, and observing the scattered power in the plane of polarization perpendicular to B0, it is shown that contributions from density fluctuations are automatically excluded. Faraday rotation is shown to have negligible influence on the scattered signal, which is accordingly determined by magnetic field fluctuations alone.