Operation of a tangential bolometer on the PBX tokamak
A compact 15-channel bolometer array that views plasma emission tangentially across the midplane has been installed on the PBX tokamak to supplement a 19-channel poloidal array which views the plasma perpendicular to the toroidal direction. By comparing measurements from these arrays, poloidal asymmetries in the emission profile can be assessed. The detector array consists of 15 discrete 2-mm x 2-mm Thinistors, a mixed semiconductor material whose temperature coefficient of resistance is relatively high. The accumulated heat incident on a detector gives rise to a change in the resistance in each active element. Operated in tandem with an identical blind detector, the resistance in each pair is compared in a Wheatstone bridge circuit. The variation in voltage resulting from the change in resistance is amplified, stored on a CAMAC transient recorder during the plasma discharge, and transferred to a VAX data acquisition computer. The instantaneous power is obtained by digitally smoothing and differentiating the signals in time, with suitable compensation for the cooling of the detector over the course of a plasma discharge. The detectors are ''free standing,'' i.e., they are supported only by their electrical leads. Having no substrate in contact with the detector reduces the response time and increases the time it takes for the detector to dissipate its accumulated heat, reducing the compensation for cooling required in the data analysis. The detectors were absolutely calibrated with a tungsten-halogen filament lamp and were found to vary by +-3%. The irradiance profiles are inverted to reveal the radially resolved emitted power density from the plasma, which is typically in the 0.1 to 0.5 W/cm/sup 3/ range.
- Research Organization:
- Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-76CH03073
- OSTI ID:
- 6312265
- Report Number(s):
- PPPL-2432; ON: DE87013210; TRN: 87-031621
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products. Original copy available until stock is exhausted
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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