MIT PSFC

Abstract: PSFC/JA-00-23


High Resolution Edge Thomson Scattering Measurements on the Alcator C-Mod Tokamak 

J. W. Hughes, D. A. Mossessian, A. E. Hubbard, E. S. Marmar, D. Johnson*, D. Simon*

*Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544
A high resolution Thomson scattering diagnostic is in operation on the Alcator C-Mod tokamak, measuring radial profiles of electron temperature and density at the plasma edge. Photons are scattered from an Nd-YAG laser beam pulsed at 30 Hz (1.3-J, 8-ns pulse), and are measured by a filter polychromator with four spectral channels. The polychromator measures Te in the range of 15-800 eV and ne of 0.3-3x1020 m-3. Twenty scattering volumes are located about the last closed flux surface, spaced for a nominal resolution of 1.3 mm in midplane radial coordinates. High resolution is essential for measuring edge Te and ne profiles on C-Mod, since these quantities exhibit gradient scale lengths as small as 2 mm in H-mode. The steep profiles at the H-mode edge are fit to a parameterized pedestal function for ease of analysis. Measured profiles are compared with edge profiles from electron cyclotron emission and visible continuum diagnostics.

08/22/00  Full text:    PDF (12 pages, 209 KB)