Prospects for -particle diagnostics by CO laser collective Thomson scattering in ITER

Kondoh, Takashi; Richards, R. K.*; Hutchinson, D. P.*; Sugie, Tatsuo; Costley, A. E.*; Miura, Yukitoshi; Lee, S.*

In order to understand the behavior of alpha-particles which are the dominant heat source in a burning plasma, it is necessary to measure the spatial distribution of the number of the alpha-particles and their energy spectrum. A collective Thomson scattering (CTS) system based on a pulsed CO laser is being developed and is under consideration for alpha-particle measurements on ITER. Heating beam ions (E = 1 MeV) are normally co-injected and have a similar velocity with alpha-particles in ITER. The CTS measurement can not, in general, distinguish beam ions and alpha-particles which have the same velocity. A vertical scattering geometry to distinguish between beam ions and alpha-particles is proposed. Calculations have shown that the vertically viewing CTS can resolve counter-travelling alphas without being masked by beam ions. Preliminary design of a beam line and a receiver system with the vertical scattering geometry has been developed. A proof-of-principle test on the CTS system using the JT-60U plasma is being conducted.