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The ATF heavy ion beam probe (invited)

ARTICLE in REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS · NOVEMBER 1992

Impact Factor: 1.61 · DOI: 10.1063/1.1143706 · Source: IEEE Xplore

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The ATF heavy ion beam probe (invited)
K. A. Connor, J. J. Zielinski, J. G. Schwelberger, and S. C. Aceto
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York 12180-3590
J. C. Glowienka
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831
A. Carnevali
University of North Alabama, Florence, Alabama 35632
(Presented on 16 March 1992)
A heavy ion beam probe (HIBP) has been implemented on the ATF torsatron at Oak Ridge
National Laboratory with the primary goal of providing direct measurements of the plasma
potential radial profile and thus of the radial electric field. The complex ATF geometry and
magnetic field structure presented a diagnostic environment more challenging than that found
on previous beam probe systems. Particular attention has therefore been given to in situ system
alignment and control capabilities. Measurements of electric potential profiles, electron density
profiles, electron density fluctuations, and electric potential fluctuations have now been made
with this system. Most of the data obtained were for ECH heated discharges, but we were also
able to make measurements of a few NBI heated plasmas. In addition to our calibration
techniques, we were able to establish a reasonable confidence level for the data obtained since we
could identify the most important potential profile characteristics predicted by theory and to
corroborate our measurements with information from other diagnostics.

I. INTRODUCTION improvements being incorporated in the new 2-MeV beam

probe on TEXT.
Heavy ion beam probes have been successfully applied
in a broad range of magnetic confinement devices.lA These II. HEAVY ION BEAM PROBING
include mirrors (TMX, Tara, Gamma-lo), bumpy tori
(EBT, NBT), tokamaks (ST, ISX-B, TEXT, TM-4), and In a heavy ion or neutral beam diagnostic, a high-
now a stellarator ( ATF) .5-8 Transport processes in nonax- energy beam of heavy ions or neutral particles, such as
isymmetric toroidal devices such as bumpy tori and stel- cesium or thallium, is injected into a magnetically confined
larators are directly coupled to the electric field structure plasma. As the beam passes through the plasma, as shown
of the plasma. A heavy ion beam probe is therefore an generically in Fig. 1, some of the ions or neutrals collide
essential diagnostic for such tori since it can provide a with plasma particles (usually electrons) with the result
direct, nonperturbing measurement of the plasma poten- that one or more electrons are stripped from the probing
(primary beam) particles forming a broad spray of higher
tial. Consequently beam probes are also either planned or
charge state particles. A small aperture detector placed
under development for other stellarator type devices
generally outside the confining field forms a narrow (sec-
(CHS, Heliotron, LHD, Uragan 2-M, TJ-2).
ondary) beam. The secondary ions which pass into the
The operating characteristics of a diagnostic based on
detector originate in a small region of the probing beam
the injection of energetic heavy ions into a plasma are de-
termed the sample volume. The amount of secondary ion
termined by the geometry of the confining field. Thus stel- current collected by the detector is proportional to the
larators present both the most difficult application environ- density of the target particles, n,, in the sample volume.
ment encountered by any HIBP to date as well as some The spatial resolution of the measurement is determined by
unique opportunities for new approaches to the potential the dimensions of this volume which are typically 0.1-2.5
measurement. In Sec. II, we consider the basics of the cm, with the dimensions along the probing beam axis gen-
technique and identify the critical features of previous sys- erally an order of magnitude smaller than the beam diam-
tems that make applications to stellarators problematic. In eter.
Sec. III we describe the ATF heavy ion beam probe system The position of the sample volume can be changed
stressing design characteristics that address these prob- rapidly along a curved line during a typical plasma dis-
lems. Procedures for obtaining potential measurements are charge time by redirecting the probing beam with electro-
presented in Sec. IV where some of the special opportuni- static sweep plates. Different lines are selected by changing
ties for in situ calibration are highlighted. Density mea- the probing ion energy (accelerator voltage) between dis-
surements and their use for system calibration are de- charges. In Fig. 1, the trajectories of the primary and sec-
scribed in Sec. V. Probably the most exciting data obtained ondary ions lie in a single plane. Thus the intersections of
with this system (naturally obtained during the last week the trajectories-the sample volume locations-also lie in
of operation) is discussed in Sec. VI. Further plans are this plane. When this ideal condition occurs, the beam
described in Sec. VII with particular emphasis on recent probe system is two dimensional. Beam probes in toka-

4505 Rev. Sci. Instrum. 63 (lo), October 1992 0034-6746/92/104505-06SO2.00 @ 1992 American Institute of Physics 4505
 plane and the entire secondary-ion energy is determined.
The EBT beam probe4 is an example of such a two-
dimensional system.
It is not quite correct to claim that a beam probe can
directly measure the plasma potential. While the secondary
ion does indeed carry such direct information on Qp out of
the plasma, the determination of the ion energy depends on
the model of analyzer operation.” An ion entering the
analyzer aperture in a known direction at a known energy
will follow a unique trajectory through the field of the
analyzer. A detector placed at some location along this
FIG. 1. Principles of heavy ion beam probing. trajectory can confirm that the initial energy and direction
were correctly known. This is approximately what is done
in a HIBP analyzer. The finite size aperture defines a small
maks, bumpy tori, and central cells of tandem mirrors have rectangular beam from the usually wider finite width fan of
been built so that the primary and secondary ions remained secondary ions leaving the plasma. This beam passes
in or near to a well-defined plane as they passed through through the analyzer and is collected on metal detector
the system. These approximately two-dimensional systems plates, Four such plates are used as shown in Fig. 2, where
were possible because the confining magnetic fields were a generic beam shape as the ions strike the detector is also
produced exclusively or predominately by discrete pancake indicated. If the same amount of current is collected on
coils configured into a torus or a solenoid. Between each each plate and if the beam defined by the aperture has
pair of coils is a plane where the magnetic field is directed uniform current density, the center of the beam coincides
primarily parallel to the coil axes (perpendicular to this with the up-down and right-left gaps between the plates. It
plane). Any ion injected into this plane will remain in the is the accuracy of this model or a suitably modified model
plane. that determines the accuracy of the measurement of Qp.
The energy of the secondary ions (in volts) leaving the For example, while a model has been developed that uses
plasma exceeds that of the primary ions by an amount the differences between the upper and lower plate currents
equal to the value of the electric potential Qp at the sample and thus does not require exactly balanced currents, it is
volume location. This dependence of the secondary-ion en- still a model with limitations, as we shall see.
ergy on cDp is direct and model independent, unlike the The design of most plasma diagnostics is significantly
density dependence of the total detected secondary ion cur- simpler in one respect than heavy ion beam probes because
rent. By using an energy analyzer as our detector it is they involve direct line of sight processes. While aligning
possible to exploit this dependence and obtain a direct optical systems is never easy, at least the photons travel in
measurement of plasma potential; the analyzer is therefore straight lines. Complete determination of the primary-
the heart of a beam probe system. In nearly all cases to secondary ion trajectories requires accurate initial position
date (TM-4 being an exception) a Proca and Green-type and direction, final position, and an accurate model of the
parallel-plate electrostatic energy analyzer9 has been used. magnetic and electric fields throughout the entire region
A side view of the ATF analyzer is shown in Fig. 2. Such occupied by the diagnostic apparatus and the plasma. The
an analyzer is capable of measuring only kinetic energy due design of most systems to date has been simplified by the
to velocity components that lie in the plane of the figure. In fact that the confining magnetic field has a negligible effect
a two-dimensional or nearly two-dimensional beam probe in the region of the HIBP electrostatic components: the
system, the plane of Fig. 2 coincides with the trajectory accelerator, the sweep plates, and the analyzer. Thus, each
of these components can be characterized using only the
design electrostatic field.
ION
TOP PLATE V = V Ill. ATF HI&P HARDWARE
The ATF HIBP system-excluding electronics-is
shown in Fig. 3. (Additional information on other hard-
ware is contained in Refs. 5-8). A top view of the primary
and secondary beam lines is provided in Fig. 4. There are
I
f x, 1 Yd”Yd2+Ydl
significant characteristics of this system that deviate sub-
stantially from the ideal two-dimensional geometry dis-
IMAGE OF SECONDARY cussed in the previous section. First, and foremost, the
B E A M ON DETECTOR
geometry is fully three dimensional. The centers of the
SPLIT DETEClOR PLATES
input and output ports are separated toroidally by 15”. The
I,. ia, ig, 14 SPLIT PLATE CURRENTS complicated orientations of the vacuum chambers are ne-
cessitated by the complex ion trajectories. This makes the
FIG. 2. Side view of ATF electrostatic energy analyzer. Detector plates determination of where various components exist in space
show image of secondary-ion beam. and even their shapes difficult to determine because there is

4506 Rev. Sci. Instrum., Vol. 63, No. IO, October 1992 Plasma diagnostics 4506
 ORNL-DWG 90-2530 FED
10G 16G 27 G
/ / / 47 G/-ACCELERATOR

HIGH

“%FE

ATF /

PLATFORM

FIG. 3. South elevation view of ATF HIBP. Contour lines show strength of the magnetic field.

no obvious reference plane for measurements. Second,

there is non-negligible magnetic field intensity throughout
the entire ion path as indicated by the field contour lines

HEAVY ION BEAM PROBE

LAYOUT
rr
PRIMARY BEAM UNE

PORT FOR CALIBRATION

APPARATUS tCARsON FOILS)
superimposed in Fig. 3.
Consider the second problem first. Accurate models
were developed to determine the effects of residual mag-
netic field on the operation of the electrostatic system com-
ponents. The upper straight section of the primary beam
line was also shielded to minimize this problem for at least
a small part of the ion trajectory. The use of shielding
produced a force in the beam line of about 1 ton, necessi-
tating additional support reinforcements beyond those
originally planned. It was not possible to shield anywhere
else because the ATF flux surfaces would have been de-
graded. We chose not to shield the accelerator because of
weight limitations. Fortunately, the simple thermionic ion
sources we use works fine in a magnetic field, unlike many
larger, higher current sources.
The physically large ATF magnetic field exacerbated
the three-dimensional nature of the system noted above.
Recall that determination of the sample volume location
and the ion trajectory characteristics in the analyzer re-
quire accurate knowledge of the location of system com-
FIG. 4. Overheadview of ATF HIBP. ponents.
A coordinate
axismeasuring
machine
wasusedto
4507 Rev. Sci. Instrum., Vol. 63, No. 10, October 1992 Plasma diagnostics 4507
obtain this information during the assembly and alignment Measured Potential Profile
of the beamlines. However, as we shall see below, this was
not sufficient to eliminate geometric uncertainties in the 600 Legend
0 Line Density 3.50 x 1014
measurement. Rather, measurement experience was neces- 700 0 Line Density450 x tO14
sary along with an order of magnitude more trajectory A Line Density7.00 x lOI4

simulations than needed on any other system. 2 600

g \\
Rather than relying solely on modeling to assure good
measurements, an in situ calibration method was developed
based on experiments performed on the Rensselaer Base-
ball Coil3 several years ago; minimum-B geometries also
produce complicated ion trajectories. Both the background
fill gas and a small gas box were used as ionization targets
to calibrate the system with no plasma. Stellarators and
minimum-B mirrors have the same magnetic fields with
01 ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ 1 I
and without the plasma, as long as fl is small. Thus, exactly 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.6 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2
the same measurement conditions can be produced with a Normalized Radius
target at zero potential using the background gas or at a
specified potential using a biased gas box as exist with the
plasma. A gas box or carbon stripping foil was planned for FIG. 5. ATF radial potential profiles for three different density, ECH
discharges.
ATF but time constraints permitted only the background
gas method to be implemented.
As noted above, the locations of the HIBP measure-
IV. POTENTIAL MEASUREMENTS ments of potential, density, etc., are determined by numer-
Figure 2 shows the geometry of the ATF energy ana- ical solution ofprobing and detected ion trajectories. While
lyzer. To determine the potential, we use the following the magnetic field model used to obtain the sample volume
relationship, lo location is quite accurate, uncertainties in the location of
system components result in corresponding uncertainties
~ =+qsVAN qp vAN in the measured profiles. An experiment was performed OR
P G(6) +F(B) q -- (1)
qs-qp ‘) qs-qp ’ an ECH discharge with a somewhat hollow density profile
where G( 8), F( 0) are geometric functions of the entrance to check the accuracy of our geometric information by
angle 8, Ai= iupper- ilo,,, i= iupPer+ iI,,,,,, qs and qp are the comparing the HIBP n, profile with data from other stan-
charges of the secondary and primary ions, VAN is the dard diagnostics. The measurement points and their trajec-
voltage on the analyzer, and VA, is the accelerator voltage, tories for this experiment are shown in Fig. 6 where tra-
Both VAN and VA, are measured with precision voltage jectories through the analyzer are also shown. Note that
dividers. G( 0) and F(8) are determined by using ions col- the ions enter near one side of the aperture and strike the
lected from the background gas for which, presumably, detector plates on the opposite side of the analyzer. A ra-
Qp=O. Details of this technique: are discussed e1sewhere.i’ dial plasma density scan with such trajectories would show
Three radial potential profiles in ECH dischargesi are pre- little or no signal for sweep angles larger than those for this
sented in Fig. 5. Measurements were not possible at large set of trajectories; this is indeed the case for the measure-
enough radii to see the potential go to zero as expected ments made. Since the initial and final conditions for the
near the limiter. The major differences shown are signifi- ion trajectories are not known exactly, other sets of trajec-
cant and reflect the accuracy of the measurement. tories were tried with end points that bracketed the errors
in our geometric information. No other set had the ob-
V. DENSITY MEASUREMENTS served physical characteristics or produced a density pro-
file that matched as well with those from other diagnostics.
There are generally better diagnostics for determining By making this measurement and using all the features of
density profiles than heavy ion beam probes. However, it is the scan we were thus able to verify that we have accurate
information that is available with no additional investment information on the location of system components. Further
in hardware and it can be used to improve the system details are presented elsewhere.13
calibration. The relationship between the total secondary-
ion current collected on all four detector plates and the
plasma density is given by
VI. FLUCTUATIONS
I,, =gJ,ti~ptin3sef( Tel, (2) During the last week of ATF operation some very ex-
where Fr,+ F,,, represent attenuation, g is a geometric fac- citing data were obtained that further demonstrated the
tor representing sample volume dimensions, and f( T,) unique opportunities presented by a heavy ion beam probe
contains the temperature sensitivity through the energy de- diagnostic on a stellarator. An experiment was performed
pendence of the ionization cross section and is inversely in which NBI heating was added to an ECH discharge
proportional to beam energy. while the density was being ramped up from about 0.25 to

4508 Rev. Sci. Instrum., Vol. 63, No. 10, October 1992 Plasma diagnostics 4508
 2.0 2.0

1.5 1.5

1.0 1.0

0.5 0.5

150 170 190 210 230 250 270

0.01 I I I I
0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.A.O
Time (Seconds)

I ,
I
I

TRAJECTORIES INTERSECTION
IN THE ANALYZER WITH ENTRANCE
SLIT

FIG. 6. Primary- and secondary-iontrajectories and sample point loca-

tions for a radial scan and secondary-iontrajectories through analyzer. I I I 10.0
0.7355 0.7360 0.7365 0.7370
Time (0.1 Seconds)
2.0X 10” cm-’ (line density). The currents collected on
the upper right and lower right plates from a sample vol-
ume well inside the plasma are shown in Fig. 7. There are FIG. 7. Current signals collected on upper right (solid line) and lower
several interesting features to be noted in these signals. At right (dashedline) detector plates for dischargein which NBI is added to
ECH while ramping up the density. Bottom view is blow up of small part
early times (up to 0.065 s) the signals are reasonably quiet of top.
and the beam appears to be located mostly on the upper
plate since there is about five times as much current col-
lected there. After the ramp up in density and NBI heating tial change well inside the plasma. Further study with a
is added, the two currents become comparable. The energy large complement of diagnostics is clearly warranted.
of the secondary ions is therefore lower after ramp up be-
cause 6, has dropped. Such a drop in potential is consistent VII. PLANS FOR FUTURE APPLICATION
with neoclassical transport predictions.
While the signal is relatively quiet at the beginning and A broad range of capabilities of the ATF HIBP have
the end, the fluctuations shown are real. The beam is mo- been demonstrated with the limited number of available
mentarily swept out of the analyzer after 0.9 s to show the measurements. W e have also shown how to improve the
noise signal on each plate. The very small wiggles observed measurements with additional run time. W e therefore look
are smaller than observed when the beam signal is being forward with enthusiasm to the restart of ATF and beam
measured. The most dramatic oscillations are the nearly probe measurements. When this occurs, we plan several
coherent fluctuations observed between 0.065 and 0.085 s. improvements based in part on this experience and recent
There are three bursts observed in the two channels. Figure developments in the 2-MeV TEXT beam probe.
8 shows a blow up of part of the third burst between 0.0735 The 500-kV accelerator used on the original TEXT
and 0.0737 s. Note that the signals are almost completely system can be upgraded in energy to about 700 kV. W e
out of phase so that it is a potential and not a density have planned for some time to install this accelerator on
oscillation. Autopower spectra also show that there might ATF which will make it possible to make measurements
be a trace of a density fluctuation but at a level that could throughout the entire ATF operating range in density and
be due to cross talk. This oscillation is also picked up by magnetic fields. A new analyzer design that is not subject
Mirnov Coils. There is therefore some physical process to plasma loading is now in use on TEXT and on the
seen as magnetic outside the plasma but sensed as a poten- JIPP-TIIU tokamak in Nagoya. The open structure of

4509 Rev. Sci. Instrum., Vol. 63, No. 10, October 1992 Plasma diagnostics 4509
ATF makes plasma loading from ultraviolet radiation a Schwelberger, V. J. Simcic, and J. J. Zielinski, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 61,
serious problem when neutral beam heating is used. A high 2989 (1990).
‘J. 0. Kolawole, K. Pourrezai, K. A. Connor, and J. T. Woo, IEEE
current voltage divider, developed for TEXT to minimize Trans. Plasma Sci PS-14, 1 (1986).
this problem, was used on ATF to obtain the data pre- 4F. M. Bieniosek, P. L. Colestock, K. A. Connor, R. L. Hickok, S. P.
sented above. However, loading was still significant. There- Kuo, and R. A. Dandl, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 51, 206 (1980).
fore we plan to use a new type analyzer when the ATF >A. Camevali, J. R. Misium, J. F. Lewis, and K. A. Connor, Rev. Sci.
Instrum. 57, 1822 (1986).
beam probe is used again. This analyzer will also be some- 6A. Camevah, K. A. Connor, S. C. Aceto, J. F. Lewis, J. C. Glowienka,
what wider than the present analyzer to better accommo- D. Shipley, and C. Eberle, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 59, 1670 (1988).
date the secondary-ion trajectories that exit the plasma. ‘S. C. Aceto, K. A. Connor, P. E. McLaren, J. G. Schatz, and G. H.
Henkel, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 61, 2958 (1990).
*J. J. Zielinski, S. C. Aceto, K. A. Connor, J. F. Lewis, J. C. Glowienka,
ACKNOWLEDGMENT G. H. Henkel, D. T. Fehling, W. R. DeVan, K. D. St. Onge, D. K. Lee,
and A. Camevali, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 61, 2961 ( 1990).
This work was supported by Martin Marietta Corpo- 9G. A. Proca and T. J. Green, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 41, 1778 (1970).
ration. “L. Solensten and K. A. Connor, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 58, 517 (1987).
“J. J. Zielinski, S. C. Aceto, J. G. Schwelberger, K. A. Connor, J. F.
Lewis, and J. C. Glowienka, these proceedings.
‘P. M. Schoch, A. Camevali, K. A. Connor, T. P. Crowley, J. L. Forster, 12S.C. Aceto, K. A. Connor, J. G. Schwelberger,and J. J. Zielinski, these
R. L. Hickok, J. F. Lewis, J. G. Schatz, and G. A. Hallock, Rev. Sci. proceedings.
Instrum. 59, 1646 (1988). ‘3J. G. Schwelberger, S. C. Aceto, K. A. Connor, J. J. Zieiinski, L.
*T. P. Crowley, S. C. Aceto, K. A. Connor, J. W. Heard, R. L. Hickok, Baylor, A. C. England, C. H. Ma, M. Murakami, and T. Uckan, these
J. F. Lewis, P. E. McLaren, A. Ouroua, J. G. Schatz, P. M. Schoch, J. proceedings.

4510 Rev. Sci. Instrum., Vol. 63, No. 10, October 1992 Plasma diagnostics 4510