Neutron diagnostics are applied to a deuterium plasma mixed with protons in the central cell of the GAMMA 10 tandem mirror [Inutake et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 55, 939 (1985)]. The deuterium ions are heated with a slow ion cyclotron wave tuned to the fundamental deuterium resonance near the mid-plane of the central cell while the plasma is sustained with the fundamental resonance heating of protons in the minimum-B anchor cells. The measurement is based on in situ calibration to determine the transmission efficiency through machine walls and the counting efficiency of the detection system for neutrons emitted from 252Cf with energy close to that in the deuterium–deuterium (D–D) fusion reaction. The observation shows that the count rate of neutrons increases with diamagnetism, and this relation is accounted for in terms of fusion reaction between deuterium ions with a transverse temperature exceeding 10 keV. Discrepancies among ion temperatures determined with different diagnostics are mostly attributed to insufficient knowledge of the profiles of plasma parameters. The results indicate that the neutron measurement can be added as a powerful diagnostic tool for hot ions if combined with more detailed profile measurements.
Ion distributions in a loss cone are measured in the GAMMA 10 tandem mirror [Phys. Rev. Lett. 55, 939 (1985)]. When Alfvén ion cyclotron (AIC) modes are excited in the central cell, enhanced end-loss of ions is observed for a characteristic energy region which agrees well with the resonant ion cyclotron condition with the AIC wave. From measurements of pitch angle distributions of end-loss ions, it is found that the loss cone is filled for this characteristic energy region, indicating an ion diffusion in a velocity space induced by the AIC wave. Magnitude of the observed additional end-loss increases with increase in the amplitude of the AIC modes. In the present experimental parameters in GAMMA 10, the AIC wave effect on the axial ion confinement is not serious.
Alfven Ion-Cyclotron modes are generated in an ICRF heated plasma in the central cell o f the GAMMA 10 tandem mirror, Identification of the mode, wave characteristics and its effects for the plasma parameters are described.General results of the GAMMA 10 experiments are also reviewed including the experimental scaling of the Potential confinement.
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