Vacuum ultraviolet impurity spectroscopy on the Alcator C-Mod tokamak

Vacuum ultraviolet spectroscopy is used on the Alcator C-Mod tokamak to study the physics of impurity transport and provide feedback on impurity levels to assist experimental operations. Sputtering from C-Mod's all metal (Mo+W) plasma facing components and ion cyclotron range of frequency antenna and vessel structures (sources for Ti, Fe, Cu, and Ni), the use of boronization for plasma surface conditioning and Ar, Ne, or N(2) gas seeding combine to provide a wealth of spectroscopic data from low-Z to high-Z. Recently, a laser blow-off impurity injector has been added, employing CaF(2) to study core and edge impurity transport. One of the primary tools used to monitor the impurities is a 2.2 m Rowland circle spectrometer utilizing a Reticon array fiber coupled to a microchannel plate. With a 600 lines/mm grating the 80 < lambda < 1050 angstrom range can be scanned, although only 40-100 angstrom can be observed for a single discharge. Recently, a flat-field grating spectrometer was installed which utilizes a varied line spacing grating to image the spectrum to a soft x-ray sensitive Princeton Instruments charge-coupled device camera. Using a 2400 lines/mm grating, the 10 < lambda < 70 angstrom range can be scanned with 5-6 nm observed for a single discharge. A variety of results from recent experiments are shown that highlight the capability to track a wide range of impurities. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3494380]