Spectral broadening of characteristic γ-ray emission peaks from 12C(3He,pγ)14N reactions in fusion plasmas.

The spectral broadening of characteristic γ-ray emission peaks from the reaction (12)C((3)He,pγ)(14)N was measured in D((3)He) plasmas of the JET tokamak with ion cyclotron resonance heating tuned to the fundamental harmonic of (3)He. Intensities and detailed spectral shapes of γ-ray emission peaks were successfully reproduced using a physics model combining the kinetics of the reacting ions with a detailed description of the nuclear reaction differential cross sections for populating the L1-L8 (14)N excitation levels yielding the observed γ-ray emission. The results provide a paradigm, which leverages knowledge from areas of physics outside traditional plasma physics, for the development of nuclear radiation based methods for understanding and controlling fusion burning plasmas.

The 12C(3He,pγ)14N reaction cross section for γ-ray spectroscopy simulation of fusion plasmas.

High resolution γ-ray spectroscopy measurements were performed in JET (3He)D plasmas with high energy ion populations driven by radio-frequency (RF) heating. One of the first reactions investigated was 12C(3He,pγ)14N, which was observed at low 3He concentrations. In order to interpret the measurements in this work, cross section data for the 12C(3He,pγ)14N reaction are evaluated. Available data for the population of excited states in 14N up to the eighth level are assessed in the range E(3He) = 0­5 MeV. Discrepancies and gaps in the database have been solved by means of interpolations and consistency analysis. The evaluated cross section data are used to predict the intensity ratio of characteristic 2.31 and 1.63 MeV γ-rays.

Energy resolution of gamma-ray spectroscopy of JET plasmas with a LaBr3 scintillator detector and digital data acquisition.

A new high efficiency, high resolution, fast γ-ray spectrometer was recently installed at the JET tokamak. The spectrometer is based on a LaBr3(Ce) scintillator coupled to a photomultiplier tube. A digital data acquisition system is used to allow spectrometry with event rates in excess of 1 MHz expected in future JET DT plasmas. However, at the lower rates typical of present day experiments, digitization can degrade the energy resolution of the system, depending on the algorithms used for extracting pulse height information from the digitized pulses. In this paper, the digital and analog spectrometry methods were compared for different experimental conditions. An algorithm based on pulse shape fitting was developed, providing energy resolution equivalent to the traditional analog spectrometry method.