Self-adaptive diagnostic of radial fast-ion loss measurements on the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak (invited)

Abstract

A poloidal array of scintillator-based Fast-Ion Loss Detectors (FILDs) has been installed in the ASDEX Upgrade (AUG) tokamak. While all AUG FILD systems are mounted on reciprocating arms driven externally by servomotors, the reciprocating system of the FILD probe located just below the midplane is based on a magnetic coil that is energized in real-time by the AUG discharge control system. This novel reciprocating system allows, for the first time, real-time control of the FILD position including infrared measurements of its probe head temperature to avoid overheating. This considerably expands the diagnostic operational window, enabling unprecedented radial measurements of fast-ion losses. Fast collimator-slit sweeping (up to 0.2 mm/ms) is used to obtain radially resolved velocity-space measurements along 8 cm within the scrape-off layer. This provides a direct evaluation of the neutral beam deposition profiles via first-orbit losses. Moreover, the light-ion beam probe (LIBP) technique is used to infer radial profiles of fast-ion orbit deflection. This radial-LIBP technique is applied to trapped orbits (exploring both the plasma core and the FILD stroke near the wall), enabling radial localization of internal plasma fluctuations (neoclassical tearing modes). This is quantitatively compared against electron cyclotron emission measurements, showing excellent agreement. For the first time, radial profiles of fast-ion losses in MHD quiescent plasmas as well as in the presence of magnetic islands and edge localized modes are presented.