Design of a new Nd:YAG Thomson scattering system for MAST

R. Scannell, M. J. Walsh, P. G. Carolan, A. C. Darke, M. R. Dunstan, R. B. Huxford, G. McArdle, D. Morgan, G. Naylor, T. O'Gorman, S. Shibaev, N. Barratt, K. J. Gibson, G. J. Tallents, H. R. Wilson

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78 Scopus citations

Abstract

A new infrared Thomson scattering system has been designed for the MAST tokamak. The system will measure at 120 spatial points with ≈10 mm resolution across the plasma. Eight 30 Hz 1.6 J Nd:YAG lasers will be combined to produce a sampling rate of 240 Hz. The lasers will follow separate parallel beam paths to the MAST vessel. Scattered light will be collected at approximately f/6 over scattering angles ranging from 80° to 120°. The laser energy and lens size, relative to an existing 1.2 J f/12 system, greatly increases the number of scattered photons collected per unit length of laser beam. This is the third generation of this polychromator to be built and a number of modifications have been made to facilitate mass production and to improve performance. Detected scattered signals will be digitized at a rate of 1 GS/s by 8 bit analog to digital converters (ADCs.) Data may be read out from the ADCs between laser pulses to allow for real-time analysis.

Original languageEnglish
Article number10E730
JournalReview of Scientific Instruments
Volume79
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - 2008
Externally publishedYes

Funding

This work was funded jointly by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, EURATOM, the University of York and the Northern Way. We are indebted to the members of the TS project board and the Culham team, in particular, Alex Carter, Keith Hawkins, Steven Bailey, and Martin O’Brien, for their contributions.

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