Development of Thomson Scattering Measurement System for Long Duration Discharges on the QUEST Spherical Tokamak

Abstract

The Thomson scattering control system has been modified to measure the time evolution of the electron density and temperature profiles during long duration discharges in the QUEST spherical tokamak. The system consists of a signal generator and a control circuit. The former accepts a QUEST main trigger and provides multiple triggers, each of which starts a short-term (e.g. 15 s) measurement. The latter provides triggers to synchronize the oscilloscope and laser oscillation during a short-term measurement. The system was used in 1000 s long duration discharges in QUEST, and the temporal evolutions of density and temperature profiles were obtained successfully. It was found the profiles are stationary after about 300 s.