A superheterodyne reflectometer can provide a direct and inexpensive measurement of the concentrations of ion species with different charge to mass ratios. The ion-ion hybrid cutoff frequency is uniquely determined by the cyclotron frequencies and concentrations of the different species. The phase of a ∼20 MHz wave that travels from a launching antenna on the low-field side of a tokamak, reflects off the cutoff layer, then travels to a receiving antenna provides a direct measure of the species mix. Hydrogen concentrations between 3% and 67% are measured in DIII-D using this technique. In theory, the technique can measure the spatial profile of the tritium concentration in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor. Possible practical difficulties include attenuation of the wave in the evanescent layer near the antenna. © 2004 American Institute of Physics.

Injected neutral beams ionize to create a population of beam ions. As they orbit around the tokamak and pass through the heating beams, some beam ions re-neutralize and emit D-alpha light. The intensity of this emission is weak compared to the signals from the injected neutrals, the warm (halo) neutrals, and the edge recombination neutrals but, for a favorable viewing geometry, the emission is Doppler shifted away from these bright interfering signals. Preliminary data from the DIII-D tokamak show that signals from re-neutralized beam ions have already been detected. A three-channel prototype instrument consisting of a spectrometer, mask, camera lenses, and frame-transfer charge coupled device is under development for measurements of the spatial profile of the beam ions. © 2004 American Institute of Physics.

The Dα light emitted by neutralized deuterium fast ions is measured in magnetohydrodynamics (MHD)-quiescent, magnetically confined plasmas during neutral beam injection. A weighted Monte Carlo simulation code models the fast-ion Dα spectra based on the fast-ion distribution function calculated classically by TRANSP [R. V. Budny, Nucl. Fusion 34, 1247 (1994)]. The spectral shape is in excellent agreement and the magnitude also has reasonable agreement. The fast-ion Dα signal has the expected dependencies on various parameters including injection energy, injection angle, viewing angle, beam power, electron temperature, and electron density. The neutral particle diagnostic and measured neutron rate corroborate the fast-ion Dα measurements. The relative spatial profile agrees with TRANSP and is corroborated by the fast-ion pressure profile inferred from the equilibrium. © 2007 American Institute of Physics.

A fast-ion deuterium-alpha (FIDA) diagnostic, first commissioned on DIII-D in 2005, relies on Doppler-shifted light from charge-exchange between beam neutrals and energetic ions. The second generation (2G) system was installed on DIII-D in 2009. Its most obvious improvement is the spatial coverage with 11 active in-beam and three passive off-beam views; the latter allows for simultaneous monitoring of the background signal. Providing extended coverage in fast-ion velocity space, the new views possess a more tangential component with respect to the toroidal field compared to their first generation counterparts. Each viewing chord consists of a bundle of three 1.5 mm core fibers to maximize light gathering. For greater throughput, fast f/1.8 optical components are used throughout. The signal is transmitted via fiber optics to a patch panel, so the user is able to choose the detector. FIDA was originally installed with a spectrometer and charge-coupled device (CCD) camera to monitor the full D(α) spectrum for two spatial views. 2G adds another spectrometer and CCD that monitor the blue-shifted wing for six spatial views at 1 kHz. In addition, a photomultiplier tube and fast digitizer provide wavelength-integrated signals at 1 MHz for eight spatial views.

A superheterodyne reflectometer could provide a direct and inexpensive measurement of ion species mixes with different charge-to-mass ratios. Using the cold plasma dispersion relation, the ion-ion hybrid cutoff frequency is uniquely determined by the density ratio and cyclotron frequencies of the two different species. The phase of a 20 MHz wave that travels from the launching point to the cutoff layer to the receiving antenna provides a direct measure of the hydrogen : deuterium species mix. In the first experiment, a fast Alfvén wave is launched perpendicular to a hydrogen-deuterium plasma from the low field side of the DIII-D tokamak. Quantitative measurements observe a hydrogen concentration range of 3-67% and a maximum penetration depth of 0.60m. Corroborative values are obtained from two independent diagnostics. In the second experiment, the fast Alfvén wave is launched from the high field side (HFS) during a hydrogen puffing experiment. The results suggest that a wave launched from the HFS is able to tunnel through the resonance-layer and reflect back to the receiving antenna.

Hydrogenic fast-ion populations are common in toroidal magnetic fusion devices, especially in devices with neutral beam injection. As the fast ions orbit around the device and pass through a neutral beam, some fast ions neutralize and emit Balmer-alpha light. The intensity of this emission is weak compared with the signals from the injected neutrals, the warm (halo) neutrals and the cold edge neutrals, but, for a favourable viewing geometry, the emission is Doppler shifted away from these bright interfering signals. Signals from fast ions are detected in the DIII-D tokamak. When the electron density exceeds ̃7 × 1019 m-3, visible bremsstrahlung obscures the fast-ion signal. The intrinsic spatial resolution of the diagnostic is ̃5cm for 40keV amu-1 fast ions. The technique is well suited for diagnosis of fast-ion populations in devices with fast-ion energies (̃30 keV amu-1), minor radii (̃0.6 m) and plasma densities (≲ 1020 m-3) that are similar to those of DIII-D.

Fast ions are produced by neutral beam injection and ion cyclotron heating in toroidal magnetic fusion devices. As deuterium fast ions orbit around the device and pass through a neutral beam, some deuterons neutralize and emit D(alpha) light. For a favorable viewing geometry, the emission is Doppler shifted away from other bright interfering signals. In the 2005 campaign, we built a two channel charge-coupled device based diagnostic to measure the fast-ion velocity distribution and spatial profile under a wide variety of operating conditions. Fast-ion data are acquired with a time resolution of approximately 1 ms, spatial resolution of approximately 5 cm, and energy resolution of approximately 10 keV. Background subtraction and fitting techniques eliminate various contaminants in the spectrum. Neutral particle and neutron diagnostics corroborate the D(alpha) measurement. Examples of fast-ion slowing down and pitch angle scattering in quiescent plasma and fast-ion acceleration by high harmonic ion cyclotron heating are presented.

The fast-ion D(alpha) (FIDA) technique is a charge-exchange recombination spectroscopy measurement that exploits the large Doppler shift of Balmer-alpha light from energetic hydrogenic atoms to infer the fast-ion density. Operational experience with the first dedicated FIDA diagnostic on DIII-D is guiding the design of the second-generation instrument. In the first instrument, dynamic changes in background light associated with plasma instabilities usually dominate measurement uncertainties. Accordingly, the design of the new instrument minimizes scattering of cold D(alpha) light while monitoring its level. The first instrument uses a vertical view to avoid bright interference from the injected-neutral beams. The sightline of the new instrument includes a toroidal component but only measures blueshifted fast-ion light that is Doppler shifted away from the redshifted light of the injected neutrals. The new views are more sensitive to fast ions that circulate in the direction of the plasma current and less sensitive to the trapped-ion and countercirculating populations. Details of the design criteria and solutions are presented.

Bulk ion toroidal rotation plays a critical role in controlling microturbulence and MHD stability as well as yielding important insight into angular momentum transport and the investigation of intrinsic rotation. So far, our understanding of bulk plasma flow in hydrogenic plasmas has been inferred from impurity ion velocity measurements and neoclassical theoretical calculations. However, the validity of these inferences has not been tested rigorously through direct measurement of the main-ion rotation in deuterium plasmas, particularly in regions of the plasma with steep pressure gradients where very large differences can be expected between bulk ion and impurity rotation. New advances in the analysis of wavelength-resolved D α emission on the DIII-D tokamak [J. L. Luxon et al., Fusion Sci. Technol. 48, 807 (2002)] have enabled accurate measurements of the main-ion (deuteron) temperature and toroidal rotation. The Dα emission spectrum is accurately fit using a model that incorporates thermal deuterium charge exchange, beam emission, and fast ion Dα (FIDA) emission spectra. Simultaneous spectral measurements of counter current injected and co current injected neutral beams permit a direct determination of the deuterium toroidal velocity. Time-dependent collisional radiative modeling of the photoemission process is in quantitative agreement with measured spectral characteristics. L-mode discharges with low beam ion densities and broad thermal pressure profiles exhibit deuteron temperature and toroidal rotation velocities similar to carbon. However, intrinsic rotation H-mode conditions and plasmas with internal transport barriers exhibit differences between core deuteron and carbon rotation which are inconsistent with the sign and magnitude of the neoclassical predictions. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.