TY - JOUR
T1 - Microwave diagnostic at Wendelstein 7-X
AU - Krämer-Flecken, A.
AU - Chaudhary, N.
AU - Guerrero Arnaiz, J.
AU - Hirsch, M.
AU - López-Rodríguez, D.
AU - Moseev, D.
AU - Oosterbeek, H.
AU - Weir, G.
AU - Windisch, T.
AU - Carralero, D.
AU - Estrada, T.
AU - Han, X.
AU - Maragkoudakis, E.
AU - Murugesan, V.
AU - Nair, V.
AU - Ponomorenko, S.
AU - the W7-X Team
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 The Author(s)
PY - 2025/12/1
Y1 - 2025/12/1
N2 - At Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X), the world's largest superconducting stellarator with a five-fold symmetry and reduced neoclassical transport, a broad suite of microwave diagnostics is installed and operated. Due to the robustness of in-vessel components and transmission lines against the harsh environment in fusion devices, they are candidates for reactor plasma control. This presentation will show an overview of microwave diagnostics at W7-X. After introducing the governing equations for the propagation of microwaves in a fusion plasma e.g. the determination of the local positions where the measurements are performed, the different diagnostics are presented. The presentation will encompass the installed diagnostics, but also, the planned upgrades and show important technical details and highlighting results obtained during the last campaigns. It will cover passive microwave diagnostics for the estimation of the electron temperature profile by radiometry from the 2nd and 3rd harmonic of the electron cyclotron emission (ECE) with a temporal resolution in the MHz-range. Furthermore, the 1st-3rd harmonic ECE radiation is measured with interferometry for both, X- and O-mode polarization. Also, fluctuations of the electron temperature are measured by various methods of correlation ECE. Active probing radar applications, so-called reflectometry, are installed to measure density fluctuations and its propagation. They allow measuring the turbulence propagation for a wide wavenumber range. Under certain assumptions the radial electric field, an important quantity for the neoclassical transport is deduced from this propagation. To measure the electron density profile in the edge, a frequency modulated continuous wave reflectometer is installed in the Ion Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ICRH)-antenna. The purpose of the instrument is the measurement of the density profile to improve the coupling of the ICRH-waves into the plasma. Besides this, the measurement of the density profile in the edge with high spatial and temporal resolution is independent of the ICRH-operation. Furthermore, a microwave scattering diagnostic, the collective Thomson Scattering (CTS), uses a gyrotron as active probing beam yields direct information of the ion temperature of hydrogen or in later campaigns deuterium species and does not rely on the impurity temperature.
AB - At Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X), the world's largest superconducting stellarator with a five-fold symmetry and reduced neoclassical transport, a broad suite of microwave diagnostics is installed and operated. Due to the robustness of in-vessel components and transmission lines against the harsh environment in fusion devices, they are candidates for reactor plasma control. This presentation will show an overview of microwave diagnostics at W7-X. After introducing the governing equations for the propagation of microwaves in a fusion plasma e.g. the determination of the local positions where the measurements are performed, the different diagnostics are presented. The presentation will encompass the installed diagnostics, but also, the planned upgrades and show important technical details and highlighting results obtained during the last campaigns. It will cover passive microwave diagnostics for the estimation of the electron temperature profile by radiometry from the 2nd and 3rd harmonic of the electron cyclotron emission (ECE) with a temporal resolution in the MHz-range. Furthermore, the 1st-3rd harmonic ECE radiation is measured with interferometry for both, X- and O-mode polarization. Also, fluctuations of the electron temperature are measured by various methods of correlation ECE. Active probing radar applications, so-called reflectometry, are installed to measure density fluctuations and its propagation. They allow measuring the turbulence propagation for a wide wavenumber range. Under certain assumptions the radial electric field, an important quantity for the neoclassical transport is deduced from this propagation. To measure the electron density profile in the edge, a frequency modulated continuous wave reflectometer is installed in the Ion Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ICRH)-antenna. The purpose of the instrument is the measurement of the density profile to improve the coupling of the ICRH-waves into the plasma. Besides this, the measurement of the density profile in the edge with high spatial and temporal resolution is independent of the ICRH-operation. Furthermore, a microwave scattering diagnostic, the collective Thomson Scattering (CTS), uses a gyrotron as active probing beam yields direct information of the ion temperature of hydrogen or in later campaigns deuterium species and does not rely on the impurity temperature.
KW - Interferometry
KW - Microwave radiometers
KW - Nuclear instruments and methods for hot plasma diagnostics
KW - Plasma diagnostics - interferometry, spectroscopy and imaging
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105033334304
U2 - 10.1088/1748-0221/20/12/C12008
DO - 10.1088/1748-0221/20/12/C12008
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:105033334304
SN - 1748-0221
VL - 20
JO - Journal of Instrumentation
JF - Journal of Instrumentation
IS - 12
M1 - C12008
ER -