Harukazu Iguchi

Compact Helical System physics and engineering design

This paper reports on the Compact Helical System designed for research on transport in a low-aspect-ratio helical system. The machine parameters were chosen on the basis of a physics optimization study. Considerable effort was devoted to reducing error fields from current feeds and crossovers. The final machine parameters are as follows: major radius of 1 m; minor radius of the helical field coil of 0.313 m; plasma aspect ratio A{sub p} = 5; pole number and toroidal period number of the helical field coil of l = 2 and m = 8, respectively; and helical pitch modulation of {alpha}{sup *} = 0.3.

A 6 MeV heavy ion beam probe for the Large Helical Device

A 6 MeV heavy ion beam probe (HIBP) is being designed for potential measurements on the Large Helical Device (LHD). This article describes a method to control the 3-D probing beam trajectories in the helical magnetic field, an estimate of beam attenuation and energy reduction arising from the long paths in the plasma, and a cylindrical analyzer as a candidate for the energy analyzer. >

Space and time‐resolved measurements of plasma density by a lithium neutral beam probe in NBT‐1M

A lithium neutral beam probe has been improved for space and time‐resolved measurements of plasma density in NBT‐1M. A lithium neutral beam (4 keV, 10–30 μA) is injected into the plasma and photon flux emitted from the injected lithium atoms by electron impact excitation is detected. This cross section is not sensitive to the electron temperature in a wide range (10 eV 1 keV), where the attenuation through charge‐exchange process becomes dominant. This method is not influenced by the magnetic field and can be applied to plasmas in any magnetic field configuration.

Causal Relationship between Zonal Flow and Turbulence in a Toroidal Plasma

Electric field fluctuations are directly measured using twin heavy-ion-beam probes in Compact Helical System. The spectrum of the electric field fluctuation reveals the existence of a zonal flow at a frequency of less than 1 kHz, coherent modes with a long correlation length (conjectured as geodesic acoustic modes), and background turbulence. Analyses using a wavelet elucidate nonlinear interactions between these fluctuation components in disparate scales. The highlighted findings are that the turbulent fluctuations should be modulated in response to the direction of zonal flow, and should be suppressed, on average, by the zonal flow. This is the first observation that demonstrates the causal linkage between zonal flow and turbulence in toroidal plasmas at a high temperature.

Space-Resolved Measurement of Electron Density by Neutral Li Beam Probing in NBT

The spatial profiles of electron density in Nagoya Bumpy Torus (NBT) have been measured with a fast neutral Li beam probing, which utilizes the photon emission due to the electron impact excitation of the injected atoms. It is shown that plasmas are well contained inside the hot electron annuli. The attenuation of thermally injected Li atoms has been measured for the estimation of electron density as a cross check.

Space‐resolved measurement of internal magnetic field in a bumpy torus by Li0‐beam probe spectroscopy

A new method combining Li0‐beam probing and spectroscopic techniques has been developed to measure local magnetic fields in a bumpy torus. A collimated thermal Li0 beam is injected into the plasma. The Zeeman pattern of the lithium resonance radiation (22S–22P, 6708 A) is observed with a Fabry–Perot interferometer. The strength of the local magnetic field is determined from the splitting between two π components of the 22S1/2–22P1/2 transition with the spatial resolution of about 7 mm. The magnetic fields from 2 to 4 kG were measured with accuracy of ±2%. This method is applicable to plasmas of a line‐integrated electron density below 5×1012 cm−2.

Heavy Ion Beam Probe for the Study of Plasma Confinement in Nagoya Bumpy Torus

The heavy ion beam probing system has been constructed for the study of plasma confinement in Nagoya Bumpy Torus (NBT-1/1M). Not only the plasma space potential but also the electron density multiplied by a function of the electron temperature nf(Te) can be measured with good spatial resolution. The feedback controlled detection technique and the time resolved fast detection technique are used, depending on the operation mode. The effects of the hot electron beta and the potential on the beam orbit are analyzed. It was confirmed that these effects on the observation points are usually small, and that the hot electron beta can be estimated from the shifts of the primary beam orbits of many cords.

Measurement of profiles of the space potential in JIPP T-IIU tokamak plasmas by slow poloidal and fast toroidal sweeps of a heavy ion beam

By the use of simultaneous fast toroidal and slow poloidal sweeps of a heavy ion beam, plasma potential profiles in the JIPP T-IIU tokamak are measured at the rate of 120 spatial profiles per second. A new method to eliminate the error due to the change of out-of-plane entrance angle caused by large plasma current is successfully applied. One of the key factors is the very homogeneous characteristics of the energy analyser along the wide slit length. A shaped electrode system, instead of guard rings with a resistor chain, successfully increases the homogeneity of the analyser. Error due to the significant change of in-plane entrance angle during a poloidal sweep is carefully minimized and calibrated by a secondary beam ionized by neutral gas introduced in the vacuum vessel. The depth of the measured potential at the plasma centre reaches more than 1.5 keV in ohmic plasmas with an ion temperature of 600 eV. In some cases, a rather wide region of positive potential and a sharp decrease of the potential in the centre of the plasma are observed.

Ion sources for fusion plasma diagnostics

Various probing beams have been developed and used for plasma diagnostics in thermonuclear fusion research for magnetic confinement. The required beam current, beam size, energy, beam characteristics such as divergence, energy spread, and emittance, etc., as well as ion species are different depending on the purpose of diagnostics, target plasma size and parameters. Hydrogen beams are used for charge-exchange recombination spectroscopy (CHERS) and motional stark effect (MSE) spectroscopy. Suitable beam energy for CHERS ranges in the area of 50 keV/amu, and a small beam divergence is required for MSE measurements. Heating beams are often used as diagnostic beams by sharing. Neutral lithium probing beams have been used as effective tools for measurement of density and fluctuations. A heavy ion beam probe (HIBP), made from alkali metal ions, is injected directly without neutralization to measure plasma potential and density, as well as their fluctuations. Recent progress in magnetic fusion experiments has resulted in advancement of the development of negative ion sources, such as He/sup -/ and Li/sup -/ sources for alpha-particle measurement, because of their advantages with regard to efficient neutralization in the high-energy region, and an Au/sup -/ source for HIBP with the application of tandem acceleration.

Ion source and stripper gas cell developments for the 6 MeV tandem heavy ion beam probe on the Large Helical Device

The feasibility of a heavy ion beam with a tandem acceleration system for plasma potential measurement has been examined. A plasma-sputter-type ion source which produces an Au/sup -/ beam with an energy width as small as 6 eV and a reasonably small emittance of /spl pi/ mm-mrad (MeV)/sup 1/2 /, can be used for this purpose. Suitable target gas thickness for a charge exchange is estimated to be less than 10/sup 15/ atom/cm/sup 2/ at the 3 MV terminal voltage. >