Multipulse Nd：YAG Laser Thomson Scattering Diagnostics on HT-7 Tokamak

A multipulse Nd：YAG （Neodym-yttrium aluminium garnet） laser Thomson scattering diagnostic system developed was recently applied on HT-7 tokamak to obtain more accurate electron temperatures. A CAMAC-based real-time computer system for laser control, data acquisition, analysis and calibration was investigated in detail. Furthermore, the reliability and accuracy of this diagnostic system were demonstrated by comparing the results with those of a soft-X ray diagnostic system.     

Design of Amplifier Circuit for the HT-7 Tokamak Thomson Scattering System

Thomson scattering diagnostic is important for measuring electron temperature and density profiles. To improve the signal-to-noise ratio, a silicon avalanche photodiode （APD） with high quantum efficiency, high sensitivity, and high gain up to 100 was adopted to measure the Thomson scattering spectrum. A preamplifier, which has low noise, high bandwidth, and high sensitivity, was designed with suitable transimpedance. Using AD8367 as the post-amplifier, good performance of the APD readout electronics have been obtained. A discussion is presented on the performance of the amplifier using a laser diode to simulate the Thomson scattering light. The test results indicate that the designed circuit has a high amplifying factor and fast rising edge. So reduction of the integral gate of the CAMAC ADC converter can improve the signal-to-noise ratio.     

Electron Heat Diffusivity Measurement by Perturbative Method on HT-7 Tokamak

Spatio-temporal evolutions of the sawteeth activities are measured simultaneously with a 16 channel high spatio-temporal resolution electron cyclotron emission （ECE） heterodyne radiometer on HT-7 and the evolutions of the sawteeth are found to be diffusive in character. By a perturbative analysis, the electron heat diffusivity Хe inferred by time-to-peak method and Fourier transform shows a good agreement. The value of electron heat diffusivity shows radial asymmetry between the low magnetic field side （LFS） and the high magnetic field side （HFS）. It is observed that with the increase in plasma density, the electron heat diffusivity decreases and the confinement of energy is improved. By comparing with Хe^pb inferred by static power balance analysis, the result indicate that Хe^hp is larger than Хe^pb by a factor ranging from 2 to 10.     

Experimental Study on Electrical Breakdown for Devices with Micrometer Gaps

The understanding of electrical breakdown in atmospheric air across micrometer gaps is critically important for the insulation design of micro ＆ nano electronic devices. In this paper, planar aluminum electrodes with gaps ranging from 2μm to 40 #m were fabricated by microelectromechanical system technology. The influence factors including gap width and surface dielectric states were experimentally investigated using the home-built test and measurement system. Results showed that for SiO2 layers the current sustained at 2-3 nA during most of the pre-breakdown period, and then rose rapidly to 10-30 nA just before breakdown due to field electron emission, followed by the breakdown. The breakdown voltage curves demonstrated three stages： （1） a constantly decreasing region （the gap width d 〈5 μm）, where the field emission effect played an important role just near breakdown, supplying enough initial electrons for the breakdown process; （2） a plateau region with a near constant breakdown potential （5 μm〈 d 〈10 μm）; （3） a region for large gaps that adhered to Paschen＇s curve （d 〉10μm）. And the surface dielectric states including the surface resistivity and secondary electron yield were verified to be related to the propagation of discharge due to the interaction between initial electrons and dielectrics.     

HCN Laser Interferometer on the EAST Superconducting Tokamak

A single-channel far-infrared （FIR） laser interferometer was developed to measure the line averaged electron density on the EAST tokamak. The structure of the single-channel FIR laser interferometer is described in detail. The evolution of density sawtooth oscillation was measured by means the FIR laser interferometer, and was identified by electron cyclotron emission （ECE） signals and soft X-ray intensity. The discharges with and without sawtooth were compared with each other in the Hugill diagram.     

The Single Particle Theory of Backward-Wave Amplifications Based on Electron Cyclotron Maser witha Rectilinear Beam简

The theory of slow backward-wave amplifications is developed based on electron cyclotron maser （ECM） mechanism employing an initially rectilinear beam, A nonlinear evolution equation is derived to describe the electron energy. Numerical calculations show that the saturated interaction efficiency in this system may exceed 20~, and the saturated interaction length spans 3-6 centimeters. The distinctive interaction mechanism is promising for the design of compact backward microwave amplification devices, Numerical studies are also presented for the slow-wave ECM efficiency with inclusion of Gaussian beam electron velocity spread. It is shown that the velocity spread reduces the interaction e~ciency.     

Effects of Finite Aspect Ratio and Noncircular Plasma Flux Surface on Electron Temperature Gradient Driven Modesd

A gyrokinetic model with integral eigenmode equations is developed based on the local equilibrium of shaped tokamak plasmas. Effects of main geometric parameters （finite aspect ratio, elongation, triangularity, and Shafranov shift gradient） on the electrostatic electron temper- ature gradient （ETG） driven modes are investigated numerically. It is found that the finite aspect ratio has a general stabilizing effect, while the elongation can be either stabilizing or destabilizing, depending on the poloidal wavelength of the mode and other parameters. It is shown that a low aspect ratio enhances the stabilizing effect of elongation, and weakens its destabilizing effect as well.     

Experimental Study of the Recovery Times of Spark Gap Switch with Different Gases

A two-pulse method is used to determine the insulation recovery time of the gas spark gap switch with different types of gas applied in a high power accelerator with a water dielectric pulse forming line. At the breakdown voltage of 450 kV, with the vacuum diode voltage of about 200 kV, and a current of 30 kA, recovery characteristics of H2, N2, SF6 were studied. The recovery percentages of the gas breakdown voltage and vacuum diode voltage were determined. The results show that hydrogen has the best recovery characteristics. At a pulse interval of 8.8 ms, the recovery percentages of both the gas breakdown voltage and vacuum diode voltage for hydrogen exceed 95%. For SF6 and N2 with an interval of 25 ms and 50 ms respectively, a 90% voltage recovery was obtained. The experiments also proved that the repetitive rate of the high power accelerator with a pulse forming line is mainly restricted by the gas switch repetitive rate; the recovery percentages of the vacuum diode voltage are limited by the recovery percentages of the gas switch breakdown voltage. The hydrogen switch can be employed for a high repetitive rate-high power accelerator with a pulse forming line.     

Diagnosis of Electronic Excitation Temperature in Surface Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasmas at Atmospheric Pressure

The electronic excitation temperature of a surface dielectric barrier discharge （DBD） at atmospheric pressure has been experimentally investigated by optical emission spectroscopic measurements combined with numerical simulation. Experiments have been carried out to deter- mine the spatial distribution of electric field by using FEM software and the electronic excitation temperature in discharge by calculating ratio of two relative intensities of atomic spectral lines. In this work, we choose seven Ar atomic emission lines at 415.86 nm [（3s^23p^5）5p →（3s^23p^5）4s] and 706.7 nm, 714.7 nm, 738.4 nm, 751.5 nm, 794.8 nm and 800.6 nm [（3s^23p^5）4p → （3s^23p^5）4s] to estimate the excitation temperature under a Boltzmann approximation. The average electron energy is evaluated in each discharge by using line ratio of 337.1 nm （N2（C^3Пu →B3Пg）） to 391.4 nm （N2^＋（B2 ∑u^＋→ ∑g^＋））. Furthermore, variations of the electronic excitation tempera- ture are presented versus dielectric thickness and dielectric materials. The discharge is stable and uniform along the axial direction, and the electronic excitation temperature at the edge of the copper electrode is the largest. The corresponding average electron energy is in the range of 1.6- 5.1 eV and the electric field is in 1.7-3.2 MV/m, when the distance from copper electrode varies from 0 cm to 6 cm. Moreover, the electronic excitation temperature with a higher permittivity leads to a higher dissipated electrical power.     

A Calibrating Device for Rogowski Coil Development

A calibrating device for the Rogowski coil is developed, which can be used to calibrate the Rogowski coil having a partial response time within tens of nanoseconds. Its key component is a step current generator, which can generate the output with a rise time of less than 2 ns and a duration of larger than 300 ns. The step current generator is composed by a pulse forming line （PFL） and a pulse transmission line （PTL）. A TEM （transverse electromagnetic mode） coaxial measurement unit is used as PTL, and the coil to be calibrated and the referenced standard Rogowski coil can be fixed in the unit. The effect of the dimensions of the TEM unit is discussed theoretically as well as experimentally.     

Determination of Electron Collision Cross Sections Set for Tetramethysilane

A swarm analysis technique based on the solution of the Boltzmann equation is used to derive low energy electron collision cross sections for tetramethylsilane （TMS）. The calculated swarm parameters with this first available cross sections set is consistent with measured values of the swarm parameters. Calculations of transport parameters in mixtures of TMS with argon are also presented.     

Electromagnetic Wave Attenuation in Atmospheric Pressure Plasma

When an electromagnetic （EM） wave propagates in an atmospheric pressure plasma （APP） layer, its attenuation depends on the APP parameters such as the layer width, the electron density and its profile and collision frequency between electrons and neutrals. This paper proposes that a combined parameter -the product of the line average electron density n and width d of the APP layer （i.e., the total number of electrons in a unit volume along the wave propagation path） can play a more explicit and decisive role in the wave attenuation than any of the above individual parameters does. The attenuation of the EM wave via the product of n and d with various collision frequencies between electrons and neutrals is presented.     

Simulations of Stimulated Raman Scattering in Low-Density Plasmas

Stimulated Raman particle-in-cell （PIC） simulations scattering （SRS） in a low-density The backward stimulated Raman plasma slab is investigated by scattering （B-SRS） dominates initially and erodes the head of the pump wave, while the forward stimulated Raman scattering （F-SRS） subsequently develops and is located at the rear part of the slab. Two-stage electron acceleration may be more efficient due to the coexistence of these two instabilities. The B-SRS plasma wave with low phase velocities can accelerate the background electrons which may be further boosted to higher energies by the F-SRS plasma wave with high phase velocities. The simulations show that the peaks of the main components in both the frequency and wave number spectra occur at the positions estimated from the phase-matching conditions.     

Simulation of Electron-Beam Generating Plasma at Atmospheric Pressure

As electron-beam generating plasma is widely applied, the software tool EGS4 （Electron-Gamma Shower） was used to simulate the transmission and energy deposition of electron-beam in air. The simulation results indicated that the range of the electron-beam was inversely proportional to the gas pressure in a wide range of gas pressure, and the electron-beam of 200 keV could generate a plasma with a density 10^11 cm^-3 in air of latm. In addition, the energy distribution of the beam-electron and plasma density profile produced by the beam were achieved.     

Preliminary Results of Drift Instability by Fast Optical Images in KT-5D Toroidal Plasma

Drift instability in plasma generated by electron cyclotron resonance （ECR） in KT- 5D device was investigated by using a fast camera and Langmuir probes. The similarity between the distribution of light intensity from the images and the plasma pressure indicates a nearly linear relationship. The discharge images taken by the camera and the plasma parameters measured by the probes also indicate the existence of low frequency turbulent events with a time scale less than a few mini-seconds.     

Three-Dimensional PIC-MC Modeling for Relativistic Electron Beam Transport Through Dense Plasma

We have developed a three dimensional （3D） PIC （particle-in-cell）-MC （Monte Carlo） code in order to simulate an electron beam transported into the dense matter based on our previous two dimensional code. The relativistic motion of fast electrons is treated by the particle-in-cell method under the influence of both a self-generated transverse magnetic field and an axial electric field, as well as collisions. The electric field generated by return current is expressed by Ohm＇s law and the magnetic field is calculated from Faraday＇s law. The slowing down of monoenergy electrons in DT plasma is calculated and discussed.     

A Prototype of beam position and phase measurement electronics for the LINAC in ADS

This article presents a prototype of beam position and phase measurement （BPPM） electronics designed for the LINAC in China Accelerator Driven Sub-critical system （ADS）. The signals received from the Beam Position Monitor （BPM） detectors are narrow pulses with a repetition frequency of 162.5 MHz and a dynamic range more than 40 dB. Based on the high-speed high-resolution Analog-to-Digital conversion technique, the input RF signals are directly converted to In-phase and Quadrature-phase （1Q） streams through under-sampling, which simplifies both the analog and digital processing circuits. All signal processing is integrated in one single FPGA, in which real-time beam position, phase and current can be obtained. A series of simulations and tests have been conducted to evaluate the performance. Initial test results indicate that this prototype achieves a phase resolution better than 0.1 degree and a position resolution better than 20 grn over a 40 dB dynamic range with the bandwidth of 780 kHz, which is well beyond the application requirements.     

Quantitative Measurement of the Proportions of High-Order Harmonics for the 4BTB Soft-X-Ray Source at Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility

A transmission grating coupled with an X-ray charge coupled device （CCD） is used to quantitatively measure the proportion of high-order harmonics of the soft-X-ray source of beam line 4B7B. The results show that the monochromatic X-ray has third-order and second-order harmonics. The proportion of second-order harmonic of 4B7B is less than 9.0% and the third- order harmonic is below 0.7% when no suppressing method is applied. When suppression methods are used, the proportion of second-order harmonic is less than 1.7% and the third-order harmonic is ignorable.