News & events
MAST diagnostics better than ever for new experiments | 15/03/2011
The MAST tokamak is preparing to restart experiments with an improved suite of plasma diagnostics.
Since April 2010, CCFE, in conjunction with a number of partner laboratories and universities, has installed a range of new and upgraded diagnostic instruments for measuring fusion plasmas in MAST. These include:
- Neutron camera - for mapping the neutron emission profile in the plasma (with Uppsala University, Sweden);
- Fast ion D-alpha system - looking at the distribution of fast ions;
- Beam emission spectroscopy - measuring plasma turbulence (with RMKI, Hungary);
- Microwave imaging system - determining the current at the edge of the plasma (with the University of York);
- Edge Doppler spectroscopy system - producing measurements that aid understanding of plasma confinement properties;
- Retarding Field Energy Analysers - measuring the temperature of ions leaving the plasma (with Liverpool University).
The new equipment will give scientists at MAST even more detailed information on plasma properties and phenomena - essential in planning for future fusion devices like ITER.
Take a tour of the diagnostics in this video with CCFE physicist Dr Neil Conway, who talks us through the upgrades and explains what they are designed to achieve.
