Fast bolometric measurements on the TCV tokamak

The design and first results are presented from a bolometric diagnostic with high temporal resolution recently installed on the TCV tokamak. The system consists of two pinhole cameras viewing the plasma from above and below at the same toroidal location. Each camera is equipped with an AXUV-16ELO linear array of 16 p-n junction photodiodes, characterized by a flat spectral sensitivity from ultraviolet to x-ray energies, a high temporal response (< 0.5 mu s), and insensitivity to low-energy neutral particles emitted by the plasma. This high temporal resolution allows the study of transient phenomena such as fast magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) activity hitherto inaccessible with standard bolometry. In the case of purely electromagnetic radiation, good agreement has been found when comparing results from the new diagnostic with those from a standard metal foil bolometer system. This comparison has also revealed that the contribution of neutrals to the foil bolometer measurements can be extremely important under certain operating conditions, precluding the application of tomographic techniques for reconstruction of the radiation distribution. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0034-6748(99)04512-8].