Spatially resolved spectra from a new x-ray imaging crystal spectrometer for measurements of ion and electron temperature profiles (invited)

Abstract

A new type of high-resolution x-ray imaging crystal spectrometer is being developed to measure ion and electron temperature profiles in tokamak plasmas. The instrument is particularly valuable for diagnosing plasmas with purely ohmic heating and rf heating, since it does not require the injection of a neutral beam—although it can also be used for the diagnosis of neutral-beam heated plasmas. The spectrometer consists of a spherically bent quartz crystal and a two-dimensional position-sensitive detector. It records spectra of helium-like argon (or krypton) from multiple sightlines through the plasma and projects a de-magnified image of a large plasma cross section onto the detector. The spatial resolution in the plasma is solely determined by the height of the crystal, its radius of curvature, and the Bragg angle. This new x-ray imaging crystal spectrometer may also be of interest for the diagnosis of ion temperature profiles in future large tokamaks, the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research tokamak and the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, where the application of the presently used charge-exchange spectroscopy will be difficult, if the neutral beams do not penetrate to the plasma center. The article presents the results from proof-of-principle experiments performed with a prototype instrument at Alcator C-Mod.