Speaker
Description
The worldwide fusion community has been developing understanding of plasma physics and
fusion plasmas due to the development of theoretical models, rapid advances in computer
simulation techniques and pioneering work in plasma diagnostics. A large fraction of such know-
how is derived from a complete suite of spectroscopic and particle diagnostics. It is thus crucial
to maintain the utilization of well-established plasma diagnostics techniques for basic diagnosis
and operation of burning plasma experiments in the near future. The main issues constraining or
even eliminating many conventional measurements are lack of port access, long-pulse
operations, high D-D and D-T neutron fluxes, gamma-induced noise and possibly, the presence
of high- magnetic fields. Conventional silicon detectors are used due to the availability of good
quality homogeneous material, and high charge carrier transport properties. Unfortunately, these
detectors can only withstand maximum neutron fluences in the range of 1013 to 1014
neutrons/cm2. The main concern in future uses of Si-detectors is, therefore, that their lifetimes
could be severely shortened by neutron damage since future sensors will have to withstand
fluences of 1015 up to 1017 neutrons/cm2. The fusion community is thus forced to invest in new
solutions that are compatible with CERN’s very-high-luminosity experiments, using new kinds
of radiation-hardened silicon sensors or semiconductor materials other than pure silicon like
Diamond, silicon-carbide, semi-insulating GaN, CdTe among others. These novel radiation-
hardened detectors and associated electronics have not been tested in a fusion experiment. In this
talk we will review key concepts of magnetically confined fusion plasmas, introduce detector
challenges for ITER, and discuss possible synergies with the high-energy physics community
(e.g. RD50), like testing detectors in present fusion experiments with the aim of providing
radiation-hardened detectors for ITER-DT phase as well as DEMO-like fusion reactors.
