Design and initial operation of a two-color soft x-ray camera system on the Compact Toroidal Hybrid experiment

A multi-camera soft x-ray diagnostic has been developed to measure the equilibrium electron temperature profile and temperature fluctuations due to magnetohydrodynamic activity on the Compact Toroidal Hybrid experiment. The diagnostic consists of three separate cameras each employing two 20-channel diode arrays that view the same plasma region through different beryllium filter thicknesses of 1.8 mu m and 3.0 mu m allowing electron temperature measurements between 50 eV and 200 eV. The Compact Toroidal Hybrid is a five-field period current-carrying stellarator, in which the presence of plasma current strongly modifies the rotational transform and degree of asymmetry of the equilibrium. Details of the soft x-ray emission, effects of plasma asymmetry, and impurity line radiation on the design and measurement of the two-color diagnostic are discussed. Preliminary estimates of the temperature perturbation due to sawtooth oscillations observed in these hybrid discharges are given. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.