A new method for imaging high frequency plasma fluctuations is described. A phase locked loop and field programmable gate array are used to generate gating triggers for an intensified CCD camera. A reference signal from another diagnostic such as a magnetic probe ensures that the triggers are synchronous with the fluctuation being imaged. The synchronous imaging technique allows effective frame rates exceeding millions per second, good signal to noise through the accumulation of multiple exposures per frame, and produces high resolution images without generating excessive quantities of data. The technique can be used to image modes in the MHz range opening up the possibility of spectrally filtered high resolution imaging of MHD instabilities that produce sufficient light fluctuations. Some examples of projection images of plasma fluctuations on the H-1NF heliac obtained using this approach are presented here.
Electron density and temperature distributions in the H-1 heliac plasma are measured using the helium line intensity ratio technique based on a collisional-radiative model. An inversion approach with minimum Fisher regularization is developed to reconstruct the ratios of the local emission radiances from detected line-integrated intensities. The electron density and temperature inferred from the He I 667.8/728.1 and He I 728.1/706.5 nm line ratios are in good agreement with those from other diagnostic techniques in the inner region of the plasma. The electron density and temperature values appear to be a little high in the outer region of the plasma. Some possible causes of the discrepancy in the outer region are discussed.
The relations between three atomic lines, He I 667.8 nm (3 1 D ! 2 1 P), 706.5 nm (3 3 S ! 2 3 P), and 728.1 nm (3 1 S ! 2 1 P), and the underlying fluctuations in a helium plasma are investigated for the quantitative interpretation of optical observations in plasma fluctuation measurements. Frequency dependent fluctuation amplitude ratios and phase delays between the line emission fluctuation and the electron density and temperature fluctuations are calculated based on a quasi-static collisionalradiative model and a linear approximation technique. For frequencies up to the upper limit of practical interest (<1 MHz), the fluctuation amplitude ratios and phase delays are similar to those directly evaluated by the quasi-static model. It is found that the difference between the results from the linear approximation technique and from the quasi-static model is due to the absence of metastable fluctuations. Contributions of the 2 1 S and 2 3 S metastable fluctuations to the three helium line emission fluctuations are analyzed. The linearity between fluctuations in the line emission and in the electron density and temperature is valid for fluctuation levels higher than 10%.
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