The Realization of a Gas Puff Imaging System on the Wendelstein 7-X Stellarator

TL;DR

This paper describes the design, construction, and operation of a Gas Puff Imaging system on the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator, enabling detailed 2D measurements of plasma fluctuations in a complex magnetic confinement device.

Contribution

It introduces a specialized GPI system tailored for W7-X's unique challenges, including long-distance optics and heat load management, with simulation-based validation of its sensitivity and placement.

Findings

High signal-to-noise ratio (>100) achieved in measurements

Effective visualization of plasma fluctuations in edge and divertor regions

System successfully captures 2D dynamics of plasma in complex magnetic configurations

Abstract

A system for studying the spatio-temporal dynamics of fluctuations in the boundary of the W7-X plasma using the Gas-Puff Imaging (GPI) technique has been designed, constructed, installed, and operated. This GPI system addresses a number of challenges specific to long-pulse superconducting devices like W7-X, including the long distance between the plasma and the vacuum vessel wall, the long distance between the plasma and diagnostic ports, the range of last closed flux surface locations for different magnetic configurations in W7-X, and management of heat loads on the system's plasma-facing components. The system features a pair of "converging-diverging" nozzles for partially collimating the gas puffed locally $\approx$135 mm radially outboard of the plasma boundary, a pop-up turning mirror for viewing the gas puff emission from the side (also acting as a shutter for the re-entrant vacuum window), and a high-throughput optical system that collects visible emission resulting from the interaction between the puffed gas and the plasma and directs it along a water-cooled re-entrant tube directly onto the 8 x 16 pixel detector array of the fast camera. The DEGAS 2 neutrals code was used to simulate the H$_\alpha$ (656 nm) and the HeI (587 nm) line emission expected from well-characterized gas-puffs of H$_2$ and He and excited within typical edge plasma profiles in W7-X, thereby predicting line brightnesses used to reduce the risks associated with system sensitivity and placement of the field of view. Operation of GPI on W7-X shows excellent signal to noise ratios (>100) over the field of view for minimally perturbing gas puffs. The GPI system provides detailed measurements of the 2-dimensional (radial and poloidal) dynamics of plasma fluctuations in the W7-X edge, scrape-off layer, and in and around the magnetic islands that make up the island divertor configuration employed on W7-X.