Simultaneous measurement of q and Er profiles using the motional Stark effect in high-performance DIII-D plasmas (invited)

The motional Stark effect (MSE) diagnostic was developed to provide a measurement of the magnetic pitch angle or q profile in tokamaks. The technique relies upon polarization measurements of Stark broadened Dα emission to determine the pitch angle of the Lorentz vb×B electric field, where vb is the injected neutral beam particle velocity and B is the total magnetic field. However, in many advanced confinement regimes, large values of the plasma radial electric field, Er, are observed and can affect the interpretation of MSE measurements. Viewing fixed locations in the plasma from two different viewing angles allows one to separate the Er field from the vb×B field, thus providing simultaneous measurement of the Er and q profiles. To achieve this measurement, the DIII–D MSE diagnostic was recently upgraded from 16 to 35 channels with three independent viewing angles. The new instrument provides an Er resolution of 5–10 kV/m with a time response of 1 ms. Measurement results from the VH mode, reverse shear, a...