LTCC magnetic sensors at EPFL and TCV: Lessons learnt for ITER
Journal article, 2019

Innovative 3D high-frequency magnetic sensors have been designed and manufactured in-house for installation on the Tokamak a Configuration Variable (TCV), and are currently routinely operational. These sensors combine the Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramic (LTCC) and the thick-film technologies, and are in various aspects similar to the majority of the inductive magnetic sensors currently being procured for ITER (290 out of 505 are LTCC-1D). The TCV LTCC-3D magnetic sensors provide measurements in the frequency range up to 1MHz of the perturbations to the toroidal (quasi-parallel: delta B-TOR(similar to)delta B-PAR), vertical (quasi-poloidal: delta B-V(ER)similar to delta B-PO(L)), and radial (delta B-RAD) magnetic field components, the latter being generally different from the component normal to the Last Closed Flux-Surface (delta B-NOR). The LTCC-3D delta B-RAD measurements improve significantly on the corresponding data with the saddle loops, which are mounted onto the wall and have a bandwidth of (similar to)3 kHz (due to the wall penetration time). The LTCC-3D delta B-TOR measurements (not previously available in TCV) provide evidence that certain MHD modes have a finite delta B-P(AR) at the LCFS, as recently calculated for pressure-driven instabilities. The LTCC-3D delta B-PO(L) measurements allow to cross-check the data obtained with the Mirnov coils, and led to the identification of large EM noise pick-up for the Mirnov DAQ. The LTCC-3D data for delta B-POL agree with those obtained with the Mirnov sensors in the frequency range where the respective data acquisition overlap, routinely up to 125kHz, and up to 250kHz in some discharges, when the EM noise pick-up on the Mirnov DAQ is removed. Finally, we look at what lessons can be learnt from our work for the forthcoming procurement, installation and operation of the LTCC-1D sensors in ITER.

TCV

Magnetic sensors

LTCC technology

ITER

Author

D. Testa

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)

A. Corne

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)

C. Jacq

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)

T. Maeder

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)

M. Toussaint

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)

S. Antonioni

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)

R. Chavana

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)

S. Couturier

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)

F. Dolizy

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)

P. Lavanchy

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)

J. B. Lister

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)

X. Llobet

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)

B. Marletaz

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)

P. Marmillod

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)

C. Moura

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)

U. Siravo

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)

M. Stoeck

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)

L. Blondel

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)

B. Ellenrieder

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)

G. Farine

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)

Y. Fournier

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)

M. Garcin

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)

Aylwin Iantchenko

Chalmers, Physics, Subatomic and Plasma Physics

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)

L. Perrone

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)

L. Stipani

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)

A. Tolio

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)

Polytechnic University of Milan

P. Windischofer

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)

Vienna University of Technology

Fusion Engineering and Design

0920-3796 (ISSN)

Vol. 146 1553-1558

Implementation of activities described in the Roadmap to Fusion during Horizon 2020 through a Joint programme of the members of the EUROfusion consortium (EUROfusion)

European Commission (EC) (EC/H2020/633053), 2014-01-01 -- 2019-01-01.

Subject Categories

Other Physics Topics

Fusion, Plasma and Space Physics

Other Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering

DOI

10.1016/j.fusengdes.2019.02.127

More information

Latest update

3/2/2022 3