Plasma diagnostics for particle confinement studies in magnetic fusion devices

Abstract: This thesis investigates the performance and improves a double color interferometer setup, absolutely calibrates a line radiation Balmer H-alpha measurement setup, and uses measurements from both setups to estimate the particle confinement time of a plasma. The double colour interferometer at the magnetic confinement plasma device EXTRAP T2R measures the line integrated electron density of the plasma. Electron density is an important parameter in fusion plasma diagnostics but the interferometer at EXTRAP T2R have had several problems. The interferometer setup was changed as follows: A piezo phase shifter was added, the beam expander was adjusted with the help of thermal image plates, and the electronics setup was rewired to remove interferences. The setup for Balmer H-alpha line radiation measurements was calibrated and characterized. The particle confinement time was estimated using Abel inversion to produce radial profiles of electron density, electron temperature and H-alpha irradiance. The interferometer upgrades did not solve all the problems, but the electron density measurements are now reliable up to around 10 – 20 ms. Since the interferometer only has one channel the electron density profile could not be determined reliably. However, the particle confinement time was estimated for two possible electron density profiles and the results agree with previous studies.