Measurements of Mode Converted Ion Cyclotron Wave with Phase Contrast Imaging in Alcator C-Mod and Comparisons with Synthetic PCI Simulations in TORIC

Abstract

Mode converted ion cyclotron wave (ICW) has been observed with phase contrast imaging (PCI) in D-[superscript 3]He plasmas in Alcator C-Mod [1, 2]. The measurements were carried out with the optical heterodyne technique using acousto-optic modulators which modulate the CO2 laser beam intensity near the ion cyclotron frequency [3]. With recently improved calibration of the PCI system using a calibrated sound wave source, the measurements have been compared with the full-wave code TORIC, as interpreted by a synthetic diagnostic. Because of the line-integrated nature of the PCI signal, the predictions are sensitive to the exact wave field pattern. The simulations are found to be in qualitative agreement with the measurements.