Innovative Plasma Imaging Array Concept*

A new lens/antenna array concept has been developed for millimeter-wave plasma imaging applications with dramatic increases in RF bandwidth and sensitivity. In this arrangement, an array of tightly coupled miniatured substrate lenses is fabricated such that each antenna has a dedicated substrate lens. The new arrangement exhibits low sidelobe levels over a bandwidth spanning 90 to 140 GHz for use in electron cyclotron emission imaging and microwave imaging reflectometry. An innovative ``vertical zoom'' control is also supported, which the vertical extent of the imaged plasma can be varied from 20 to 30 cm. The first plasma implementation of the new concept will take place on the TEXTOR tokamak in Fall 2008, with systems for DIII-D and ASDEX to follow in 2009. Experimental details regarding the imaging arrays and the new TEXTOR optical design will be presented.