Critical issues highlighted by collective Thomson scattering below electron cyclotron resonance in FTU

Abstract

Strong anomalous spectra were systematically observed in collective Thomson scattering (CTS) at 140 GHz in the high-field tokamak FTU, a proof-of-principle experiment of CTS on thermal density fluctuations performed with propagation below electron cyclotron (EC) resonance with the final aim of demonstrating high-density CTS in the extraordinary mode. Following the results of two experimental campaigns expressly performed to investigate them, these spectra are ascribed to a gyrotron perturbation caused by a back-reflected signal originating in the beam injection port, where the electron cyclotron layer, the upper-hybrid layer and the right-handed cutoff layer unavoidably crossed by the probing beam are activated by a breakdown plasma sustained by the beam itself. The degree of generality ascribable to our results and the constraints they set on present and future CTS experiments with propagation below electron cyclotron resonance are discussed. A viable solution in terms of a transmit antenna robust against the risk of gyrotron perturbation is suggested.