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Title: Measurements of DIII-D poloidal field by fiber-optic pulsed polarimetry

Journal Article · · Review of Scientific Instruments
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5034777· OSTI ID:1609206

A new technique for measuring the spatial and temporal structure of the poloidal field is presented, whereby the magnetic field causes the polarization of light traveling through an optical fiber to rotate via the Faraday effect by an amount proportional to the strength of the field oriented along the fiber. In fiber optic pulsed polarimetry, changes in the polarization of the backscatter light from the fiber are detected, thereby permitting measurement of the field as a function of position along the fiber. In this proof-of-principle experiment, specially prepared single-mode fibers with weak fiber Bragg gratings were installed in the poloidal direction on the outside of the thermal blanket on DIII-D. Light at 532 nm from a mode-locked Nd:YAG laser was injected into the optical fibers. The laser repetition rate was 895 kHz with a pulse length of <10 ps, resulting in ~1 μs temporal resolution. A photodetector system measured the Stokes polarization components necessary to determine the amount of polarization rotation. For this experiment, bandwidth limitations of the detectors resulted in a spatial resolution of ≈2 cm. The measured temporal and spatial distributions of the poloidal field are consistent with inductive probe measurements and Elastodynamic Finite Integration Technique reconstructions of the spatial distribution. Furthermore, this demonstrates the ability of this technique to provide real-time detection of the temporal and spatial variations of the poloidal field. Besides revealing more detailed information about the plasma, this new diagnostic capability can also help in detecting instabilities in real time, thereby enabling enhanced machine protection.

Research Organization:
General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States); STI Optronics, Inc., Redmond, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
FC02-04ER54698; SC0009808
OSTI ID:
1609206
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1459693
Journal Information:
Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 89, Issue 10; ISSN 0034-6748
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (1)

Core plasma ion cyclotron emission driven by fusion-born ions journal November 2018