Fast-ion dynamics in the TEXTOR tokamak measured by collective Thomson scattering

Phys Rev Lett. 2006 Nov 17;97(20):205005. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.205005. Epub 2006 Nov 16.

Abstract

Here we present the first measurements by collective Thomson scattering of the evolution of fast-ion populations in a magnetically confined fusion plasma. 150 kW and 110 Ghz radiation from a gyrotron were scattered in the TEXTOR tokamak plasma with energetic ions generated by neutral beam injection and ion cyclotron resonance heating. The temporal behavior of the spatially resolved fast-ion velocity distribution is inferred from the received scattered radiation. The fast-ion dynamics at sawteeth and the slowdown after switch off of auxiliary heating is resolved in time. The latter is shown to be in close agreement with modeling results.