Retarding field energy analyzers for the ion temperature measurements in the SOL plasmas of the tokamak ISTTOK and the TJ-II stellarator
Measurements of the ion temperature in the plasma boundary of fusion devices typically employs the Retarding Field Analyzer (RFA) that is based on selective rejecting or retarding the plasma ions by a varying braking electric field. Normally, the RFA comprises an input slit and collector electrode with two or more separately biased fine grids placed in front of it. With an assumption of Maxwellian ion distribution, the exponential decay of the RFA collector currentvoltage characteristic is determined by the ion temperature. This contribution describes 1- and 3channels RFAs for the ion temperature measurements in the scrape-off-layer of the tokamak ISTTOK and the TJ-II stellarator. Selected results of the ion temperature measurements on the ISTTOK and the TJ-II are presented. In addition, limitations related to the RFA operation (including the alignment along magnetic field direction and plasma loading) are considered.
On the reliability of scrape-off layer ion temperature measurements by retarding field analyzers.
The retarding field analyzer (RFA) is one of the only widely accepted diagnostics for measurements of ion temperature Ti in the tokamak scrape-off layer. In this paper we analyze some instrumental effects of the RFA and their influence on Ti measurements. It is shown that selective ion transmission through the RFA slit is responsible for an overestimation of Ti by less than 14%, even for a relatively thick slit plate. Therefore, thicker slit plates are preferable, since they reduce, e.g., the risk of melting during off-normal events, and the effect of positive space charge inside the cavity. The influence of the electron repelling grid, as well as misalignment of the slit with respect to the magnetic field on Ti measurements are negligible.
A slowly rotating coil system for AC field measurements of Fermilab Booster correctors
A method for measurement of rapidly changing magnetic fields has been developed and applied to the testing of new room temperature corrector packages designed for the Fermilab Booster Synchrotron. The method is based on fast digitization of a slowly rotating tangential coil probe, with analysis combining the measured coil voltages across a set of successive magnet current cycles. This paper presents results on the field quality measured for the normal and skew dipole, quadrupole, and sextupole elements in several of these corrector packages.