Floating coil position detection system for the Levitated Dipole Experiment

Abstract

The Levitated Dipole Experiment (LDX) is a joint Columbia University/MIT research collaboration sited at MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center. LDX is investigating the physics of a plasma confined in a dipole magnetic field. The field is created with a superconducting electromagnetic ring in the center of a large vacuum chamber. The goals of the experiment call for the ring to be levitated in the center of the vacuum vessel by the magnetic field of another superconducting electromagnet. This act requires a feedback mechanism to control the position of the ring in the vacuum vessel. This thesis presents a design for a position detection system to give position information to the feedback controller and digital filters to reduce the effect of noise in the position measurements.