Electron and ion beam dynamics of the PF-1000 facility were investigated for the first time at its upper energy limit (≈1 MJ) in relation to neutron emission, the pinch's plasma ('target') characteristics and some other parameters with the help of a number of diagnostics with ns temporal resolution. Special attention was paid to the temporal and the spatial cross correlations of different phenomena. Results of these experiments are in favour of a neutron emission model based on ion beam-plasma interaction with three important features: (1) the plasma target is hot and confined during a few 'inertial confinement times'; (2) the ions of the main part of the beam are magnetized and entrapped around the pinch plasma target for a period longer than the characteristic time of the plasma inductive storage system and (3) ion-ion collisions (both fusion collisions, due to head-on impacts and Coulomb collisions) are responsible for neutron emission. Analysis has shown that one of the ways for achieving a future improvement in the neutron yield of the PF-1000 facility may by changing the geometry of the device. It may ensure an increase in both the discharge current and the initial working gas pressure, eventually resulting in the neutron yield boost.

The paper presents a schematic design and tests of a system applicable for measurements of fast electron pulses emitted from high-temperature plasma generated inside magnetic confinement fusion machines, and particularly in the TORE-SUPRA facility. The diagnostic system based on the registration of the Cherenkov radiation induced by fast electrons within selected solid radiators is considered, and electron low-energy thresholds for different radiators are given. There are some estimates of high thermal loads, which might be deposited by intense electron beams upon parts of the diagnostic equipment within the TORE-SUPRA device. There are some proposed measures to overcome this difficulty by the selection of appropriate absorption filters and Cherenkov radiators, and particularly by the application of a fast-moving reciprocating probe. The paper describes the measuring system, its tests, as well as some results of the preliminary measurements of fast electrons within TORE-SUPRA facility.

Results from a Cherenkov probe recently installed in FTU are presented on non-thermal electron losses. A range of scenarios are investigated to prove the versatility of the diagnostics by correlation with several other diagnostics, including electron cyclotron emission (ECE), neutron and gamma ray detectors, Mirnov coils and soft x-ray cameras. The data analysed provide useful insights into the dynamics of runaway electron (RE) losses in the presence of magnetic islands, demonstrating the distinct and broad potential of this relatively new diagnostic system. The analysis focuses on the sensitivity of the Cherenkov probe to RE losses in connection with magnetohydrodynamic activity and, generally, with magnetic perturbations and reconnection events. In those cases, the Cherenkov probe signals show that the RE expulsion mechanisms are due to the magnetic perturbation of a magnetic island and its amplitude fluctuations. Importantly, the microsecond resolution of the Cherenkov diagnostics reveals an internal structure of the signal peaks, permitting, for the first time with non-magnetic diagnostics, the detection of high frequency signals linked to perturbations of the magnetic island width, known as beta-induced Alfvèn eigenmodes.

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Experimental studies performed with many Plasma-Focus (PF) facilities have shown that simultaneously with the emission of X-ray pulses and intense relativistic electron beams (REBs) there also appears the emission of pulsed ion streams of a relatively high energy (up to several MeV). Such ions are emitted mainly along the z-axis of the PF discharge, although the ion angular distribution is relatively wide. From PF discharges with deuterium filling fast neutrons produced by nuclear fusion reactions are also emitted. The paper concerns studies of the energetic ion beams and their correlation with the pulsed REBs. Timeintegrated measurements were performed with an ion pinhole camera equipped with solid-state nuclear track detectors (SSNTDs), and time-resolved studies were carried out with a scintillation detector, enabling the determination of an ion energy spectrum on the basis of the time-of-flight (TOF) technique.

This paper reports on gas-puff experiments performed for the first time with the large plasma-focus POSEIDON facility operated at 130 to 206kJ. Different diagnostic techniques have been used to observe interaction of a deuterium plyma current sheath with deuterium or argon targets which were produced by a fast-acting gas valve at the end of the inner electrode. It has been shown that POSEIDON can be operated with gas puffing in a controlled way.

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Gas, fluid, or solid Cherenkov-type detectors have been widely used in high-energy physics for determination of parameters of charged particles, which are moving with relativistic velocities. This paper presents experimental results on the detection of runaway electrons using Cherenkov-type detectors in the ISTTOK tokamak discharges. Such detectors have been specially designed for measurements of energetic electrons in tokamak plasma. The technique based on the use of the Cherenkov-type detectors has enabled the detection of energetic electrons (energies higher than 80 keV) and determination of their spatial and temporal parameters in the ISTTOK discharges. Obtained experimental data were found in adequate agreement to the results of numerical modeling of the runaway electron generation in ISTTOK.