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Title: Resolving small signal measurements in experimental plasma environments using calibrated subtraction of noise signals

Journal Article · · Review of Scientific Instruments
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4891976· OSTI ID:22308931
 [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Xantho Technologies, LLC, Madison, Wisconsin 53705 (United States)
  2. Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830 (United States)
  3. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York 12180 (United States)

The performance of many diagnostic and control systems within fusion and other fields of research are often detrimentally affected by spurious noise signals. This is particularly true for those (such as radiation or particle detectors) working with very small signals. Common sources of radiated and conducted noise in experimental fusion environments include the plasma itself and instrumentation. The noise complicates data analysis, as illustrated by noise on signals measured with the heavy ion beam probe (HIBP) installed on the Madison Symmetric Torus. The noise is time-varying and often exceeds the secondary ion beam current (in contrast with previous applications). Analysis of the noise identifies the dominant source as photoelectric emission from the detectors induced by ultraviolet light from the plasma. This has led to the development of a calibrated subtraction technique, which largely removes the undesired temporal noise signals from data. The advantages of the technique for small signal measurement applications are demonstrated through improvements realized on HIBP fluctuation measurements.

OSTI ID:
22308931
Journal Information:
Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 85, Issue 11; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0034-6748
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Cited By (1)

Noise mitigation methods for ion detectors operating with a direct view of high temperature plasmas journal October 2018