Low-noise heterodyne receiver for electron cyclotron emission imaging and microwave imaging reflectometry

Journal Article · Mon Nov 14 23:00:00 EST 2016 · Review of Scientific Instruments

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4959273· OSTI ID:22596599

Domier, C. W.; Luhmann, N. C.; Luo, C.; Mamidanna, M.; Phan, T.; Pham, A. -V.; Wang, Y. ^[1]

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1. University of California at Davis, Davis, California 95616 (United States)

The critical component enabling electron cyclotron emission imaging (ECEI) and microwave imaging reflectometry (MIR) to resolve 2D and 3D electron temperature and density perturbations is the heterodyne imaging array that collects and downconverts radiated emission and/or reflected signals (50–150 GHz) to an intermediate frequency (IF) band (e.g. 0.1–18 GHz) that can be transmitted by a shielded coaxial cable for further filtering and detection. New circuitry has been developed for this task, integrating gallium arsenide (GaAs) monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) mounted on a liquid crystal polymer (LCP) substrate. The improved topology significantly increases electromagnetic shielding from out-of-band interference, leads to 10× improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio, and dramatic cost savings through integration. The current design, optimized for reflectometry and edge radiometry on mid-sized tokamaks, has demonstrated >20 dB conversion gain in upper V-band (60-75 GHz). Implementation of the circuit in a multi-channel electron cyclotron emission imaging (ECEI) array will improve the diagnosis of edge-localized modes and fluctuations of the high-confinement, or H-mode, pedestal.

• OSTI ID: 22596599
• Journal Information: Review of Scientific Instruments, Journal Name: Review of Scientific Instruments Journal Issue: 11 Vol. 87; ISSN 0034-6748; ISSN RSINAK
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
COAXIAL CABLES
CYCLOTRONS
EDGE LOCALIZED MODES
ELECTRON TEMPERATURE
ELECTRONS
EMISSION
GALLIUM
GALLIUM ARSENIDES
GHZ RANGE
H-MODE PLASMA CONFINEMENT
HETERODYNE RECEIVERS
IMAGES
INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
LIQUID CRYSTALS
MICROWAVE RADIATION
NOISE
PERTURBATION THEORY
SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO
TOKAMAK DEVICES