A model of non-Maxwellian electron distribution function for the analysis of ECE data in JET discharges

Recent experiments performed in JET at high level of plasma heating, in preparation of, and during the DT campaign have shown significant discrepancies between electron temperature measurements by Thomson Scattering (TS) and Electron Cyclotron Emission (ECE). In order to perform a systematic analysis of this phenomenon, a simple model of bipolar distortion of the electron distribution function has been developed, allowing analytic calculation of the EC emission and absorption coefficients. Extensive comparisons of the modelled ECE spectra (at both the 2nd and the 3rd harmonic extraordinary mode) with experimental measurements display good agreement when bulk electron distribution distortions around 1-2 times the electron thermal velocity are used and prove useful for a first level of analysis of this effect.

Investigation of Te measurements discrepancies between ECE and Thomson diagnostics in high-performance plasmas in JET

For high-temperature JET and TFTR discharges, electron cyclotron emission (ECE) measurements of central electron temperature were systematically found to be up to 20% higher than those taken with Thomson scattering. In recent high-performance JET discharges, central Te measurements, performed with LIDAR Thomson scattering and the X-mode ECE interferometer, have been studied in a large database, including deuterium (DD), and deuterium-tritium plasmas (DT). Discrepancies between Te measurements have been observed outside of the experimental uncertainties. ECE measurements, at high Te, have been found to be higher or lower than those of LIDAR, depending on the specific plasma scenario. In addition, discrepancies between the peaks of the second and third harmonic ranges of the ECE spectrum have been interpreted as evidence for the presence of non-Maxwellian features in the electron distribution function. These comparisons seem to suggest that such features can be found in most of the high-performance scenarios selected in this JET database.

A high-resolution neutron spectroscopic camera for the SPARC tokamak based on the Jet European Torus deuterium-tritium experience

Dedicated nuclear diagnostics have been designed, developed, and built within EUROFUSION enhancement programs in the last ten years for installation at the Joint European Torus and capable of operation in high power Deuterium-Tritium (DT) plasmas. The recent DT Experiment campaign, called DTE2, has been successfully carried out in the second half of 2021 and provides a unique opportunity to evaluate the performance of the new nuclear diagnostics and for an understanding of their behavior in the record high 14 MeV neutron yields (up to 4.7 × 10¹⁸ n/s) and total number of neutrons (up to 2 × 10¹⁹ n) achieved on a tokamak. In this work, we will focus on the 14 MeV high resolution neutron spectrometers based on artificial diamonds which, for the first time, have extensively been used to measure 14 MeV DT neutron spectra with unprecedented energy resolution (Full Width at Half Maximum of ≈1% at 14 MeV). The work will describe their long-term stability and operation over the DTE2 campaign as well as their performance as neutron spectrometers in terms of achieved energy resolution and high rate capability. This important experience will be used to outline the concept of a spectroscopic neutron camera for the SPARC tokamak. The proposed neutron camera will be the first one to feature the dual capability to measure (i) the 2.5 and 14 MeV neutron emissivity profile via the conventional neutron detectors based on liquid or plastics scintillators and (ii) the 14 MeV neutron spectral emission via the use of high-resolution diamond-based spectrometers. The new opportunities opened by the spectroscopic neutron camera to measure plasma parameters will be discussed.

A new dedicated signal processing system for gamma-ray spectrometers in high power deuterium-tritium plasma scenarios in tokamaks

The most performant deuterium-tritium (DT) plasma discharges realized by the Joint European Torus (JET) tokamak in the recent DT campaign have produced neutron yields on the order of 10¹⁸ n/s. At such high neutron yields, gamma-ray spectroscopy measurements with scintillators are challenging as events from the neutron-induced background often dominate over the signal, leading to a significant fraction of pileup events and instability of the photodetector gain along with the consequent degradation of the reconstructed spectrum. Here, we describe the solutions adopted for the tangential lanthanum bromide spectrometer installed at JET. A data acquisition system with free streaming mode digitization capabilities for the entire duration of the discharge has been used to solve dead-time related issues and a data reconstruction code with pileup recovery and photodetector gain drift restoration has been implemented for off-line analysis of the data. This work focuses on the acquired data storage and parsing, with a detailed explanation of the pileup recovery and gain drift restoration algorithms.

Electron cyclotron emission measurements on JET: Michelson interferometer, new absolute calibration, and determination of electron temperature

At the fusion experiment JET, a Michelson interferometer is used to measure the spectrum of the electron cyclotron emission in the spectral range 70-500 GHz. The interferometer is absolutely calibrated using the hot/cold technique and, in consequence, the spatial profile of the plasma electron temperature is determined from the measurements. The current state of the interferometer hardware, the calibration setup, and the analysis technique for calibration and plasma operation are described. A new, full-system, absolute calibration employing continuous data acquisition has been performed recently and the calibration method and results are presented. The noise level in the measurement is very low and as a result the electron cyclotron emission spectrum and thus the spatial profile of the electron temperature are determined to within ±5% and in the most relevant region to within ±2%. The new calibration shows that the absolute response of the system has decreased by about 15% compared to that measured previously and possible reasons for this change are presented. Temperature profiles measured with the Michelson interferometer are compared with profiles measured independently using Thomson scattering diagnostics, which have also been recently refurbished and recalibrated, and agreement within experimental uncertainties is obtained.

Detecting non-maxwellian electron velocity distributions at JET by high resolution Thomson scattering

The present work is motivated by a long standing discrepancy between the electron temperature measurements of Thomson scattering (TS) and electron cyclotron emission (ECE) diagnostics for plasmas with strong auxiliary heating observed at both JET and TFTR above 6–7 keV, where in some cases the ECE electron temperature measurements can be 15%–20% higher than the TS measurements. Recent analysis based on ECE results at JET has shown evidence of distortions to the Maxwellian electron velocity distribution and a correlation with the TS and ECE discrepancies has been suggested. In this paper, a technique to determine the presence of non-Maxwellian behavior using TS diagnostics is outlined. The difficulties and limitations of modern TS system designs to determine the electron velocity distribution are also discussed. It is demonstrated that small deviations such as those suggested by previous ECE analysis could be potentially detected, depending on the spectral layout of the TS polychromators. The spectral layout of the JET high resolution Thomson scattering system is such that it could be used to determine these deviations between 1 and 6 keV, and the results presented here indicate that no evidence of non-Maxwellian behavior is observed in this range. In this paper, a modification to the current polychromator design is proposed, allowing non-Maxwellian distortions to be detected up to at least 10 keV.

Observation of confined current ribbon in JET plasmas

We report the identification of a localized current structure inside the JET plasma. It is a field-aligned closed helical ribbon, carrying current in the same direction as the background current profile (cocurrent), rotating toroidally with the ion velocity (corotating). It appears to be located at a flat spot in the plasma pressure profile, at the top of the pedestal. The structure appears spontaneously in low density, high rotation plasmas, and can last up to 1.4 s, a time comparable to a local resistive time. It considerably delays the appearance of the first edge localized mode.

[Prenatal diagnosis in 350 amniocenteses]

Between march 1988 and march 1991, 350 amniocenteses were performed as a part of the prenatal diagnosis program at the Instituto Nacional de Perinatología. Cytogenetic diagnosis was obtained in 348 cases (99.4%). A total of ten abnormal fetal karyotypes (2.9%) were detected: Down's syndrome, (5) Edwards' syndrome, (2) Turner's syndrome, (1) Klinefelter's syndrome (1) and chromosomal instability. (1) In addition, one carrier of a Robertsonian translocation, two balanced carriers of reciprocal translocations and three cases of true mosaicism, were also detected. In the group of patients studied for indications other than risk of chromosomopathy, one female fetus affected by congenital adrenal hyperplasia, was observed. There were two miscarriages, resulting in a post-procedural fetal loss of 0.57%.