Compact solid-state neutral particle analyzer in current modea)
Abstract
Solid state neutral particle analyzer (ssNPA) arrays are operated in current mode on the DIII-D tokamak and the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX). Compared with conventional pulse-counting NPAs, current-mode operation sacrifices energy resolution to obtain economical, high-bandwidth, pitch-angle resolved measurements. With the success from a new three-channel near-vertical-view current mode ssNPA on DIII-D, the apertures on an existing array on NSTX were expanded to increase the particle influx. The sightlines of both arrays intersect heating beams, enabling both active and passive charge exchange measurements. The spatial resolution at beam intersection is typically 5 cm on both devices. Directly deposited ultra-thin foils on the detector surface block stray photons below the energy of 1 keV and also set low energy threshold about 25 keV for deuterium particle detection. Oscillations in neutral flux produced by high frequency magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) instabilities are readily detected.
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