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60 Years of neutral particle analysis: from early tokamaks to ITER

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Abstract

Academician A. D. Sakharov’s idea concerning the emission of atomic flux from hot plasma (1951) inspired scientists of A. F. Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute to create the first in the world instrument called Neutral Atom Analyzer in 1960 and then in 1961 to use it successfully on the Alpha device (USSR, 1958–1963). Now the analysis of fluxes of fast atoms referred to as Neutral Particle Analysis (NPA) is one of the main diagnostic methods for the ion component of plasma in tokamaks, stellarators, and other devices. NPA provides a unique opportunity for studying the ion distribution functions, ion temperatures and hydrogen isotope ratio in hot plasma. Neutral particle analyzers developed at the Ioffe Institute were widely used in the USSR until the late 1970s, and afterwards began to be employed worldwide. Since then, most of the information on the ion distribution functions and the behavior of fast ions in fusion plasma is obtained from NPA measurements on all leading magnetic confinement fusion systems worldwide. The specialized complex of atom analyzers currently being created at the Ioffe Institute is included in the primary list of ITER diagnostics. The integration of this complex on ITER is expected to begin in 2025.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the State Assignment on the topic No. 0040-2019-0023. The authors express their gratitude to Prof. Dr. F. Wagner of Max-Planck-Institute for Plasma Physics who was the first outside the USSR to use Ioffe atom analyzers in IPP (Garching) on the tokamaks Pulsator and ASDEX. His successful experiments contributed to the international reputation of the Ioffe instruments. On the basis of that he also initiated scientific exchange and many Russian scientists had the possibility to work in IPP. This cooperation was maintained over decades also during politically difficult periods. We also thank Prof. Dr. F. Wagner for his help in the preparation of this paper for publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ioffe Institute, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 194021

    M. P. Petrov, V. I. Afanasyev, F. V. Chernyshev, M. I. Mironov & S. Ya. Petrov

  2. Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 195251

    P. R. Goncharov

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  1. M. P. Petrov
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  2. V. I. Afanasyev
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  3. F. V. Chernyshev
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  4. P. R. Goncharov
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  5. M. I. Mironov
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  6. S. Ya. Petrov
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Correspondence to P. R. Goncharov.

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Petrov, M.P., Afanasyev, V.I., Chernyshev, F.V. et al. 60 Years of neutral particle analysis: from early tokamaks to ITER. EPJ H 46, 5 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjh/s13129-021-00009-6

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