Phase contrast imaging of waves and instabilities in high temperature magnetized fusion plasmas

Phase contrast imaging (PCI) is an internal reference beam interferometry technique which provides a direct image of line integrated plasma density fluctuations. The method has been used with great success to measure waves and turbulence in magnetically confined high temperature plasmas. The principle of PCI was developed in optics in the 1930s by the Dutch physicist Zernike, leading to the development of phase-contrast microscopy [1], [17]. The technique allows one to detect the variation of the index of refraction of a dielectric medium (such as a plasma) due to the presence of waves or turbulent fluctuations. The image produced by the introduction of a phase plate in the beam path, and subsequently imaging the expanded laser beam onto a detector array can be used to calculate wavelengths and correlation lengths of fluctuations in high temperature plasmas. In this paper, the principle of PCI is summarized and examples of measurements from the DIII-D and Alcator C-Mod tokamak plasmas are given.