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PLASMA DIAGNOSTICS
1. Introduction
Millimeter wave (MMW) interferometry is an established means for measurements of
electron density in plasmas [1-3]. The underlying principle is the phase shift attained by a
MMW beam traversing a plasma volume. The phase shift is proportional to the plasma
index of refraction integrated along the beam path. The plasma refractive index according
to the Drude model is
n = 1
f p2
f2
(1),
Ne 2
where f p
is the electron plasma frequency; N is the plasma density, e is the
me
elementary charge, and me is the electron mass. For electromagnetic waves with
frequencies higher than the plasma frequency ( and for O mode in magnetized plasmas
with f >>fpe) , the plasma is almost transparent and the effect is a phase delay for the
propagating wave. This makes MMW interferometry applicable for diagnostics of
plasmas with densities lower than N~(1011 - 1012)cm-3.
A conventional interferometer measures the phase delay of an electromagnetic wave
passing through the plasma volume in a single direction (single channel), with respect to
a wave which does not. Having these measurements performed in different directions
and applying tomography makes it possible to recover 2-D or 3-D plasma density
distributions. Using a single interferometer for tomography, with the inevitable
repositioning of the instrument, makes the measurement process slow and inefficient.
Using several conventional interferometers and parallel data acquisition speeds up the
process but makes it much more costly.
We propose an alternative solution to the problem. Radical improvement in data
acquisition time, at a moderate increase in the instrument cost, can be achieved by using a
new type of device, a multi-channel interferometer (MCI). This is an instrument that can
quickly switch from one direction of plasma probing to another (one measurement
channel to another), thus eliminating the need for moving the entire device to a new
position. The switched multi-channel device makes it possible to use an inexpensive
conventional interferometer to probe many directions, each for a short time. In this paper
we describe a prototype of the new multi-channel instrument that was built and installed
for exploration and testing of the new approach at the UCLA Large Plasma Device.
The key elements of the new instrument are fast, operating almost in real-time, flexible
beam-formers, based on a Electronically Reconfigurable Aperture (ERA) recently
developed at WaveBand (a business unit of Sierra Nevada Corporation).
2. Interferometer
The block-diagram of the interferometer is shown in Figure 1. It comprises a transmitter,
a receiver, and phase detector. The receiver is configured as a heterodyne operating at
IF=19 GHz.
~110V
Power
Supply
Module
PLL Circuit
PLL
IF In
IF Amplifier
PLL
Control Out
PLL
IF Out
Transmitter
Power
Supply
LO Out
I Out
Phase Detector
IF
Receiver
IF In
PLL Control In
RF
Out
To Data
Acquisition
Q Out
IF Out
76 GHz
Transmitting
Antenna
RF
In
Receiving
Antenna
Receiver
(Harmonic
Mixer)
LO In
19 GHz
the transmitter. A coaxial cable is used to provide the reference 19 GHz signal from the
transmitter to the receiver. Conversion loss in the harmonic mixer is less than 20 dB so
that the received signal is large enough to provide the required signal-to-noise ratio. The
quadrature phase detector (QPD) operating at 100 MHz is used to increase the accuracy
of phase measurement to a level of better than 1. The IF signal is amplified by the IF
Amplifier. The phase detector measures the phase difference between the IF signal and
the reference signal generated by the PLL Circuit.
Figure 3. Simulated far field antenna beam pattern for 1D ERA: upper curve represents
the azimuth beam pattern, lower curve represents the elevation beam pattern.
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We have tested the instrument with a real plasma at the UCLA Large Plasma Device
(LAPD). The interferometer antennas were attached to the LAPD window and the
detected signals are shown in Figure 9. They are illustrative of plasma dynamics during
plasma production and decay.
Results presented in Figure 9 show that the phase dynamics measured by the MCI are
correlated with the plasma density dynamics. However, the data are affected by parasitic
reflections from the plasma reactor window. The accumulated phase shift inserted by
plasma greatly exceeds 2. Without window reflection, all curves would have a vertical
span equal to 2. However, reflection from the reactor window creates a parallel
reflection channel that screens the plasma phase variations. In future operation, the
window reflection will be minimized by optimization of the window material and its
geometry.
The effect of the window reflection can be accounted for, and the corrected data have
been used to estimate plasma density. The resulting curves are presented in Figures 10
and 11.
Figure 10. Plasma density dynamics obtained with the new interferometer
in comparison with the reference device (56 GHz).
6. Conclusions