Fast-ion orbit sensitivity of neutron emission spectroscopy diagnostics

Fast ions in fusion plasmas often leave characteristic signatures in the plasma neutron emission. Measurements of this emission are subject to the phase-space sensitivity of the diagnostic, which can be mapped using weight functions. In this paper, we present orbit weight functions for the TOFOR and NE213 neutron diagnostics at the Joint European Torus, mapping their phase-space sensitivity in 3D orbit space.

Both diagnostics are highly sensitive to fast ions that spend a relatively large fraction of their orbit transit times inside the viewing cone of the diagnostic. For most neutron energies, TOFOR is found to be relatively sensitive to potato orbits and heavily localized counter-passing orbits, as well as trapped orbits whose “banana tips” are inside the viewing cone of TOFOR.

For the NE213-scintillator, the sensitivity is found to be relatively high for stagnation orbits.