DIAGNOSTICS FOR HOT PLASMAS USING HYDROGEN NEUTRAL BEAMS.

Beams of neutral hydrogen atoms have found a number of uses in the diagnosis of hot plasmas. In the most straightforward application, neutral beams have been used to determine plasma line density, based on simple attenuation measurements. This technique has been applied most intensively recently to the study of beam-injected mirror plasmas. Neutral beams have also now been used in a number of tokamaks to supply a local increase of the neutral atom target density for charge exchange. By directing a time-modulated neutral beam across the sight-line of a charge exchange analyzer, and measuring the modulated neutral particle efflux from the plasma, local measurements of the ion energy distribution function can be made.