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Probe Method for Measuring the Mach Number and the Flow Vector in Edge Plasma
Author(s) -
Amemiya H.,
Tsushima A.,
Fuchs G.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
contributions to plasma physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.531
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1521-3986
pISSN - 0863-1042
DOI - 10.1002/ctpp.2150390605
Subject(s) - mach number , saturation current , tokamak , physics , saturation (graph theory) , magnetic field , plasma , plasma diagnostics , ion current , envelope (radar) , optics , atomic physics , computational physics , mechanics , mathematics , aerospace engineering , engineering , radar , quantum mechanics , voltage , combinatorics
A planar Mach probe to measure the Mach number and the flow vector with respect to the magnetic field in the edge plasma of e.g. a tokamak is being proposed. The probe is constructed as a double probe and the saturation ion current is measured as function of the angle of rotation of the probe surface normal with respect to the magnetic field. The saturation current as function of the angle is calculated by taking a drifted Maxwellian distribution for ions and an effective size of the probe depending on the angle. From the ratio of the saturation currents for plus and minus biases respectively and from the envelope of the saturation current with respect to the rotation angle, the Mach number and the flow vector can be determined.