Two-chord interferometry using 3.39 {mu}m He-Ne laser on a flux-coil-generated FRC

Journal Article · Fri Oct 15 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Review of Scientific Instruments

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3475538· OSTI ID:22058667

Gota, H; Deng, B H; Gupta, D; Kiyashko, V; Knapp, K; Mendoza, R; Morehouse, M ^[1]; Bolte, N; Roche, T; Wessel, F ^[1]

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1. Tri Alpha Energy, Inc., Rancho Santa Margarita, California 92688 (United States)

A two-chord {lambda}{sub IR}{approx}3.39 {mu}m He-Ne laser interferometer system was developed for a flux-coil-generated field-reversed configuration to estimate the electron density and the total temperature of the field-reversed configuration (FRC) plasma. This two-chord heterodyne interferometer system consists of a single {approx}2 mW infrared He-Ne laser, a visible ({lambda}{sub vis}{approx}632.8 nm) He-Ne laser for the alignment, a 40 MHz acousto-optic modulator, photodetectors, and quadrature phase detectors. Initial measurement was performed and the measured average electron densities were 2-10x10{sup 19} m{sup -3} at two different radial positions in the midplane. A time shift in density was observed as the FRC expands radially. The time evolution of the line-averaged density agrees with the density estimated from the in situ internal magnetic probes, based on a rigid-rotor profile model.

• OSTI ID: 22058667
• Journal Information: Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 81, Issue 10; Other Information: (c) 2010 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0034-6748
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
ELECTRON DENSITY
ELECTRON TEMPERATURE
HELIUM-NEON LASERS
INTERFEROMETERS
INTERFEROMETRY
ION TEMPERATURE
MAGNETIC PROBES
MHZ RANGE
PHOTODETECTORS
PLASMA
PLASMA DENSITY
REVERSE-FIELD PINCH
VISIBLE RADIATION