Collective Thomson Scattering Measurements Research Articles

Laboratory tests of CO2 laser collective Thomson scattering for measurements of ion temperature in the divertor.

Collective Thomson scattering (CTS) is a diagnostic method that measures the ion velocity distribution of a plasma. CO2 laser CTS measurements are challenging because of the inherently small Doppler broadening and scattering signals that are difficult to detect. We implemented a heterodyne detection scheme to measure spectrum changes of less than a GHz. To maximize the collected light at small scattering angles, we designed a unique light collection approach consisting of a customized conical-shaped (axicon) lens with a hole in the center. The axicon lens is used to collect the scattered light emitted within an annular cross-section from the scattering volume while the probe beam is passed through the hole at the center of the lens. The performance of the heterodyne detection scheme and annular collection approach was demonstrated using a Transverse Excited Atmospheric pressure CO2 laser with a pulse energy of 160 mJ at λ = 10.59 µm.

Collective Thomson scattering in non-equilibrium laser produced two-stream plasmas

We investigate collective Thomson scattering (CTS) in two-stream non-equilibrium plasmas analytically, numerically, and experimentally. In laboratory astrophysics, CTS is a unique tool to obtain local plasma diagnostics. While the standard CTS theory assumes plasmas to be linear, stationary, isotropic, and equilibrium, they are often nonlinear, non-stationary, anisotropic, and non-equilibrium in high energy phenomena relevant to laboratory astrophysics. We theoretically calculate and numerically simulate the CTS spectra in two-stream plasmas as a typical example of a non-equilibrium system in space and astrophysical plasmas. The simulation results show the feasibility to diagnose two-stream instability directly via CTS measurements. To confirm the non-equilibrium CTS analysis, we have developed an experimental system with a high repetition rate tabletop laser for laboratory astrophysics.

Collective Thomson scattering diagnostic for the GDT open magnetic trap

In this paper, we propose a collective Thomson scattering (CTS) diagnostic for fast ion measurements for the GDT (gas-dynamic trap) facility at the Budker Institute. The diagnostic utilizes the 54.5 GHz gyrotron usually used for electron cyclotron resonance heating as a source of probe radiation and is aimed at reconstruction of distributions over transverse and longitudinal velocities of NBI-driven ions in the plasma core. Here we present a feasibility study of this concept showing a possibility to receive a strong CTS signal of several hundred eVs for a wide range of GDT parameters. The main limitations come from the refraction of the probe and scattered radiation propagating in inhomogeneous plasma: to provide well-resolved CTS measurements the on-axis plasma density should be kept less than 1.5 · 1013 cm−3 while usual GDT discharges correspond to the density of (0.9 − 1.3)· 1013 cm−3.

Collective Thomson scattering measurements of electron feature using stimulated Brillouin scattering in laser-produced plasmas

Collective Thomson scattering (CTS) has been applied to laser-produced plasmas with Gekko XII HIPER laser facility. A scheme of stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) has been used in CTS measurements for the first time. Utilizing SBS shortens the probe pulse, which increases the scattered power, and thus collected scattered signal of CTS. Therefore, a lower energy probe laser can be used for given background emission levels to avoid probe heating, which is crucial for plasmas with low electron temperature. Both electron and ion features of CTS have been successfully detected by using the SBS technique. The spatial profile of electron density, temperature, and drift velocity have been estimated in an ablation plasma. In addition to the local measurements with CTS, a global structure of plasmas has been obtained with optical imaging of the self-emission of plasmas and the interferometry. In the aspects of drift velocity and plasma density, the local and global information are in good agreement.

Diagnostic of fast-ion energy spectra and densities in magnetized plasmas

The measurement of the energy spectra and densities of α-particles and other fast ions are part of the ITER measurement requirements, highlighting the importance of energy-resolved energetic-particle measurements for the mission of ITER. However, it has been found in recent years that the velocity-space interrogation regions of the foreseen energetic-particle diagnostics do not allow these measurements directly. We will demonstrate this for γ-ray spectroscopy (GRS), collective Thomson scattering (CTS), neutron emission spectroscopy and fast-ion Dα spectroscopy by invoking energy and momentum conservation in each case, highlighting analogies and differences between the different diagnostic velocity-space sensitivities. Nevertheless, energy spectra and densities can be inferred by velocity-space tomography which we demonstrate using measurements at JET and ASDEX Upgrade. The measured energy spectra agree well with corresponding simulations. At ITER, α-particle energy spectra and densities can be inferred for energies larger than 1.7 MeV by velocity-space tomography based on GRS and CTS. Further, assuming isotropy of the α-particles in velocity space, their energy spectra and densities can be inferred by 1D inversion of spectral single-detector measurements down to about 300 keV by CTS. The α-particle density can also be found by fitting a model to the CTS measurements assuming the α-particle distribution to be an isotropic slowing-down distribution.

Forward modeling of collective Thomson scattering for Wendelstein 7-X plasmas: Electrostatic approximation.

In this paper, we present a method for numerical computation of collective Thomson scattering (CTS). We developed a forward model, eCTS, in the electrostatic approximation and benchmarked it against a full electromagnetic model. Differences between the electrostatic and the electromagnetic models are discussed. The sensitivity of the results to the ion temperature and the plasma composition is demonstrated. We integrated the model into the Bayesian data analysis framework Minerva and used it for the analysis of noisy synthetic data sets produced by a full electromagnetic model. It is shown that eCTS can be used for the inference of the bulk ion temperature. The model has been used to infer the bulk ion temperature from the first CTS measurements on Wendelstein 7-X.

Collective Thomson scattering measurements of fast-ion transport due to sawtooth crashes in ASDEX Upgrade

Sawtooth instabilities can modify heating and current-drive profiles and potentially increase fast-ion losses. Understanding how sawteeth redistribute fast ions as a function of sawtooth parameters and of fast-ion energy and pitch is hence a subject of particular interest for future fusion devices. Here we present the first collective Thomson scattering (CTS) measurements of sawtooth-induced redistribution of fast ions at ASDEX Upgrade. These also represent the first localized fast-ion measurements on the high-field side of this device. The results indicate fast-ion losses in the phase-space measurement volume of about 50% across sawtooth crashes, in good agreement with values predicted with the Kadomtsev sawtooth model implemented in TRANSP and with the sawtooth model in the EBdyna_go code. In contrast to the case of sawteeth, we observe no fast-ion redistribution in the presence of fishbone modes. We highlight how CTS measurements can discriminate between different sawtooth models, in particular when aided by multi-diagnostic velocity-space tomography, and briefly discuss our results in light of existing measurements from other fast-ion diagnostics.

Benchmark and combined velocity-space tomography of fast-ion D-alpha spectroscopy and collective Thomson scattering measurements

We demonstrate the combination of fast-ion D-alpha spectroscopy (FIDA) and collective Thomson scattering (CTS) measurements to determine a common best estimate of the fast-ion velocity distribution function by velocity-space tomography. We further demonstrate a benchmark of FIDA tomography and CTS measurements without using a numerical simulation as common reference. Combined velocity-space tomographies from FIDA and CTS measurements confirm that sawtooth crashes reduce the fast-ion phase-space densities in the plasma center and affect ions with pitches close to one more strongly than those with pitches close to zero.

Measurements of the fast-ion distribution function at ASDEX upgrade by collective Thomson scattering (CTS) using active and passive views

Collective Thomson scattering (CTS) can provide measurements of the confined fast-ion distribution function resolved in space, time and 1D velocity space. On ASDEX Upgrade, the measured spectra include an additional signal which previously has hampered data interpretation. A new set-up using two independent heterodyne receiver systems enables subtraction of the additional part from the total spectrum, revealing the resulting CTS spectrum. Here we present CTS measurements from the plasma centre obtained in L-mode and H-mode plasmas with and without neutral beam injection (NBI). For the first time, the measured spectra agree quantitatively with the synthetic spectra in periods with and without NBI heating. For the discharges investigated, the central velocity distribution of neutral beam ions can be described by classical slowing down. These results will have a major impact on ITER physics exploration, since CTS is presently the only diagnostic to measure the confined alpha particles produced by the fusion reactions.

Combination of fast-ion diagnostics in velocity-space tomographies

Fast-ion Dα (FIDA) and collective Thomson scattering (CTS) diagnostics provide indirect measurements of fast-ion velocity distribution functions in magnetically confined plasmas. Here we present the first prescription for velocity-space tomographic inversion of CTS and FIDA measurements that can use CTS and FIDA measurements together and that takes uncertainties in such measurements into account. Our prescription is general and could be applied to other diagnostics. We demonstrate tomographic reconstructions of an ASDEX Upgrade beam ion velocity distribution function. First, we compute synthetic measurements from two CTS views and two FIDA views using a TRANSP/NUBEAM simulation, and then we compute joint tomographic inversions in velocity-space from these. The overall shape of the 2D velocity distribution function and the location of the maxima at full and half beam injection energy are well reproduced in velocity-space tomographic inversions, if the noise level in the measurements is below 10%. Our results suggest that 2D fast-ion velocity distribution functions can be directly inferred from fast-ion measurements and their uncertainties, even if the measurements are taken with different diagnostic methods.

Tomography of fast-ion velocity-space distributions from synthetic CTS and FIDA measurements

We compute tomographies of 2D fast-ion velocity distribution functions from synthetic collective Thomson scattering (CTS) and fast-ion Dα (FIDA) 1D measurements using a new reconstruction prescription. Contradicting conventional wisdom we demonstrate that one single 1D CTS or FIDA view suffices to compute accurate tomographies of arbitrary 2D functions under idealized conditions. Under simulated experimental conditions, single-view tomographies do not resemble the original fast-ion velocity distribution functions but nevertheless show their coarsest features. For CTS or FIDA systems with many simultaneous views on the same measurement volume, the resemblance improves with the number of available views, even if the resolution in each view is varied inversely proportional to the number of views, so that the total number of measurements in all views is the same. With a realistic four-view system, tomographies of a beam ion velocity distribution function at ASDEX Upgrade reproduce the general shape of the function and the location of the maxima at full and half injection energy of the beam ions. By applying our method to real many-view CTS or FIDA measurements, one could determine tomographies of 2D fast-ion velocity distribution functions experimentally.

Elevation angle alignment of quasi optical receiver mirrors of collective Thomson scattering diagnostic by sawtooth measurements

Localized measurements of the fast ion velocity distribution function and the plasma composition measurements are of significant interest for the fusion community. Collective Thomson scattering (CTS) diagnostics allow such measurements with spatial and temporal resolution. Localized measurements require a good alignment of the optical path in the transmission line. Monitoring the alignment during the experiment greatly benefits the confidence in the CTS measurements. An in situ technique for the assessment of the elevation angle alignment of the receiver is developed. Using the CTS diagnostic on TEXTOR without a source of probing radiation in discharges with sawtooth oscillations, an elevation angle misalignment of 0.9° was found with an accuracy of 0.25°.

Collective Thomson scattering measurements with high frequency resolution at TEXTOR

We discuss the development and first results of a receiver system for the collective Thomson scattering (CTS) diagnostic at TEXTOR with frequency resolution in the megahertz range or better. The improved frequency resolution expands the diagnostic range and utility of CTS measurements in general and is a prerequisite for measurements of ion Bernstein wave signatures in CTS spectra. The first results from the new acquisition system are shown to be consistent with theory and with simultaneous measurements by the standard receiver system.

Comparison of fast ion collective Thomson scattering measurements at ASDEX Upgrade with numerical simulations

Collective Thomson scattering (CTS) experiments were carried out at ASDEX Upgrade to measure the one-dimensional velocity distribution functions of fast ion populations. These measurements are compared with simulations using the codes TRANSP/NUBEAM and ASCOT for two different neutral beam injection (NBI) configurations: two NBI sources and only one NBI source. The measured CTS spectra as well as the inferred one-dimensional fast ion velocity distribution functions are clearly asymmetric as a consequence of the anisotropy of the beam ion populations and the selected geometry of the experiment. As expected, the one-beam configuration can clearly be distinguished from the two-beam configuration. The fast ion population is smaller and the asymmetry is less pronounced for the one-beam configuration. Salient features of the numerical simulation results agree with the CTS measurements while quantitative discrepancies in absolute values and gradients are found.

Impact of beam ions on α-particle measurements by collective Thomson scattering in ITER

Collective Thomson scattering (CTS) has been proposed as a viable diagnostic for characterizing fusion born α-distributions in ITER. However, the velocities of the planned 1 MeV deuterium heating beam ions in ITER are similar to that of fusion born α-particles and may therefore mask the measurements of the fusion products. We apply a new technique for calculating the orbit averaged source, ⟨S⟩, of beam ions for various ITER scenarios. With the known ⟨S⟩ Fokker–Planck modelling is applied to characterize the beam ions during the slowing down process. Theoretical CTS signals for both beam ions and the α-particles are calculated. Our investigations show that the CTS measurements of α-particles will not be masked by the presence of the beam ions in H-mode plasmas. In lower density reversed shear plasmas, only a part of the CTS α-particle spectrum will be perturbed.

Linewidth measurements of the JET energetic ion and alpha particle collective Thomson scattering diagnostic gyrotron

Spectral purity of the transmitter source of a collective Thomson scattering (CTS) system is vitally important to insure that measured signals only originate from the plasma and not from stray source light. A number of high power (up to 500 kW), 140 GHz gyrotron tubes used with the Joint European Torus (JET) CTS system have been found to have one or more spurious modes and many harmonics in the output spectrum. The CTS diagnostic receiver system was used to make measurements of the gyrotron spectrum. It was comprised of a homodyne part from MIT for frequency sidebands <500 MHz, and a heterodyne part constructed at JET for frequency sidebands from 0.1 to 6 GHz. One tube at high power produced a strong 25 MHz mode and its harmonics to large frequency offsets, unsuitable for CTS measurements. Only at reduced power of approximately 100 kW was this tube’s spectrum sufficiently clean for CTS. Another tube at JET operated at 500 kW output power with only low level parasitic modes, indicating that higher power gyrotrons may be available for future alpha particle measurements. The main receiver was tested with a low power test setup which simulated the gyrotron stray source light, the thermal ion feature and plasma electron cyclotron emission.