Core-ion temperature measurement of the ADITYA tokamak using passive charge exchange neutral particle energy analyzer

Core-ion temperature measurements have been carried out by the energy analysis of passive charge exchange (CX) neutrals escaping out of the ADITYA tokamak plasma (minor radius, a = 25 cm and major radius, R = 75 cm) using a 45 degrees parallel plate electrostatic energy analyzer. The neutral particle analyzer (NPA) uses a gas cell configuration for re-ionizing the CX-neutrals and channel electron multipliers (CEMs) as detectors. Energy calibration of the NPA has been carried out using ion-source and Delta E/E of high-energy channel has been found to be similar to 10%. Low signal to noise ratio (SNR) due to VUV reflections on the CEMs was identified during the operation of the NPA with ADITYA plasma discharges. This problem was rectified by upgrading the system by incorporating the additional components and arrangements to suppress VUV radiations and improve its VUV rejection capabilities. The noise rejection capability of the NPA was experimentally confirmed using a standard UV-source and also during the plasma discharges to get an adequate SNR (>30) at the energy channels. Core-ion temperature T-i(0) during flattop of the plasma current has been measured to be up to 150 eV during ohmically heated plasma discharges which is nearly 40% of the average core-electron temperature (typically T-e(0) similar to 400 eV). The present paper describes the principle of tokamak ion temperature measurement, NPA's design, development, and calibration along with the modifications carried out for minimizing the interference of plasma radiations in the CX-spectrum. Performance of the NPA during plasma discharges and experimental results on the measurement of ion-temperature have also been reported here. (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4791998]