Photodiode based multi-modal diagnostic for low-energy neutral beam injection in the LTX-$β$ spherical tokamak

Authors:
  • AMA. Maan
    A. Maan
  • TLTosh Le
    Tosh Le
  • DBD. P. Boyle
    D. P. Boyle
  • RMR. Majeski
    R. Majeski
  • SBS. Banerjee
    S. Banerjee
  • GWG. J. Wilkie
    G. J. Wilkie
  • MLM. Lampert
    M. Lampert
  • CPC. Lopez Perez
    C. Lopez Perez
  • RSR. Shousha
    R. Shousha
  • WCW. Capecchi
    W. Capecchi
  • HGH. Gajani
    H. Gajani

Abstract
We present a compact photodiode-based diagnostic array developed to study low-energy neutral beam injection in the LTX-$β$ spherical tokamak. The in-vacuum diagnostic combines filtered soft-x-ray (SXR), narrowband Lyman-$α$, and unfiltered AXUV photodiode rows with partly overlapping, nearly coincident tangential views of the plasma, including the neutral beam path. This geometry provides simultaneous sensitivity to beam-induced SXR emission; neutral-hydrogen line radiation associated with recycling, fast neutrals and fueling; and broadband emission that can include direct neutral impacts from fast-ion charge-exchange losses. Initial measurements from 12-20 keV hydrogen beam operation show beam-synchronous detector responses in all three modalities. The unfiltered AXUV signals exhibit millisecond-scale rise and fall times that are much slower than the detector response, that vary across sightlines, and depend on lithium-conditioning history. Comparison with classical slowing-down time estimates indicates that charge exchange with background neutrals contributes appreciably to the measured decay. The diagnostic can potentially be used to constrain a forward model to estimate the time-resolved balance of beam heating and fueling for small tokamaks.
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