Abstract The present status of operation and upgrades of the 50 keV / 3 A Diagnostic Neutral Beam Injector (DNBI) at TCV tokamak are described. The plasma grid was replaced by a new re-manufactured one with its existing design. The technology and production were performed within SPC-EPFL. The further redesign of the plasma grid was done to improve the strength and stability, accounting for the results of grid deformation measurements, and considering ANSYS thermomechanical analysis in combination with IBSimu beam simulations results. The key parts of the plasma source were re-shaped to increase the DNBI beam pulse duration and the source lifetime. A new power supply set for DNBI was developed after the analysis of a beam current up to 3-3.5 A and extended beam shot duration up to 2-2.5 s. The new multichannel optical diagnostics was recently implemented for the beam spectral measurements.

The paper describes the operation and upgrade of the Heating Neutral Beam Injection (HNBI) system as well as the related infrastructure at the Tokamak Configuration Variable (TCV) during the last years. In 2023, the installation of new TCV neutron shielding was completed, enabling the operation of two deuterium heating beams at their full power for 30 (instead of 5) high-performance TCV plasma shots. The automation control capabilities of HNBIs have been enhanced through the integration of beam power scenario design into TCV discharge programming, along with real-time control of beams power based on real time plasma measurements of plasma during plasma discharge. The beam ducts were re-designed for minimization of power loads impact. The integration of thermocouples was modified for better monitoring of the ducts heating. Development of alternative ion optics for the first heating beam, designed for intermediate particle energies (up to similar to 38 keV), has commenced. The first results of a beamlet geometry numerical optimization, based on beam formation IBSimu calculations, beam transportation through the duct, are considered respective the beam in-duct losses. The prototype of spectral multichannel measurement setup for beam profile scanning and species composition evaluation was tested. The first images of the beam's spectral profile, providing fractional divergence consideration, have been analyzed.

The vertical plane transverse emittance of accelerated electron bunches at the AWAKE experiment at CERN has been determined, using three different methods of data analysis. This is a proof-of-principle measurement using the existing AWAKE electron spectrometer to validate the measurement technique. Large values of the geometric emittance, compared to that of the injection beam, are observed (∼0.5 compared with ∼0.08), which is in line with expectations of emittance growth arising from plasma density ramps and large injection beam bunch size. Future iterations of AWAKE are anticipated to operate in conditions where emittance growth is better controlled, and the effects of the imaging systems of the existing and future spectrometer designs on the ability to measure the emittance are discussed. Good performance of the instrument down to geometric emittances of approximately 1e-4 is required, which may be possible with improved electron optics and imaging.

Tokamak a configuration variable (TCV), recently celebrating 30 years of near-continual operation, continues in its missions to advance outstanding key physics and operational scenario issues for ITER and the design of future power plants such as DEMO. The main machine heating systems and operational changes are first described. Then follow five sections: plasma scenarios. ITER Base-Line (IBL) discharges, triangularity studies together with X3 heating and N2 seeding. Edge localised mode suppression, with a high radiation region near the X-point is reported with N-2 injection with and without divertor baffles in a snowflake configuration. Negative triangularity (NT) discharges attained record, albeit transient, beta(N) similar to 3 with lower turbulence, higher low-Z impurity transport, vertical stability and density limits and core transport better than the IBL. Positive triangularity L-Mode linear and saturated ohmic confinement confinement saturation, often-correlated with intrinsic toroidal rotation reversals, was probed for D, H and He working gases. H-mode confinement and pedestal studies were extended to low collisionality with electron cyclotron heating obtaining steady state electron iternal transport barrier with neutral beam heating (NBH), and NBH driven H-mode configurations with off-axis co-electron cyclotron current drive. Fast particle physics. The physics of disruptions, runaway electrons and fast ions (FIs) was developed using near-full current conversion at disruption with recombination thresholds characterised for impurity species (Ne, Ar, Kr). Different flushing gases (D2, H2) and pathways to trigger a benign disruption were explored. The 55 kV NBH II generated a rich Alfvenic spectrum modulating the FI fas ion loss detector signal. NT configurations showed less toroidal Alfven excitation activity preferentially affecting higher FI pitch angles. Scrape-off layer and edge physics. gas puff imaging systems characterised turbulent plasma ejection for several advanced divertor configurations, including NT. Combined diagnostic array divertor state analysis in detachment conditions was compared to modelling revealing an importance for molecular processes. Divertor physics. Internal gas baffles diversified to include shorter/longer structures on the high and/or low field side to probe compressive efficiency. Divertor studies concentrated upon mitigating target power, facilitating detachment and increasing the radiated power fraction employing alternative divertor geometries, optimised X-point radiator regimes and long-legged configurations. Smaller-than-expected improvements with total flux expansion were better modelled when including parallel flows. Peak outer target heat flux reduction was achieved (>50%) for high flux-expansion geometries, maintaining core performance (H-98 > 1). A reduction in target heat loads and facilitated detachment access at lower core densities is reported. Real-time control. TCV's real-time control upgrades employed MIMO gas injector control of stable, robust, partial detachment and plasma beta feedback control avoiding neoclassical tearing modes with plasma confinement changes. Machine-learning enhancements include trajectory tracking disruption proximity and avoidance as well as a first-of-its-kind reinforcement learning-based controller for the plasma equilibrium trained entirely on a free-boundary simulator. Finally, a short description of TCV's immediate future plans will be given.

Experimental results show that hosing of a long particle bunch in plasma can be induced by wakefields driven by a short, misaligned preceding bunch. Hosing develops in the plane of misalignment, self-modulation in the perpendicular plane, at frequencies close to the plasma electron frequency, and are reproducible. Development of hosing depends on misalignment direction, its growth on misalignment extent and on proton bunch charge. Results have the main characteristics of a theoretical model, are relevant to other plasma-based accelerators and represent the first characterization of hosing.

We report on the first 1D resolved two-photon absorption laser-induced fluorescence (TALIF) measurements of atomic hydrogen (H) performed in the Resonant Antenna Ion Device using a picosecond laser system. The results are obtained across a cylindrical plasma column with peak electron density 10(18)m(-3) and temperature 1eV on axis, which decrease monotonically to 2 & sdot;10(17)m(-3) and 0.75 eV over a scale of a few cm away from the axis. TALIF results in these conditions are compatible with a uniform H density profile across the observed region, with a mean dissociation degree close to 3%. The small variation of H density across regions covering a wide range of plasma parameters suggests that transport processes and wall interactions play an important role in determining the H density profile. The fluorescence decay time is close to 10ns at all observed locations, a result compatible with complete substate mixing of the n = 3 states of H.

The Thermal Helium Beam (THB) is a diagnostic for simultaneously measuring the electron temperature and density profiles of the plasma edge and scrape off layer (SOL). It exploits the line ratio technique of selected He line intensities, emitted by He gas puffed inside the plasma, to locally estimate the plasma properties through a dedicated collisional radiative model (CRM). Standard THB diagnostics used in nuclear fusion devices measure three HeI emission lines: 667.8, 706.5, and 728.1 nm. For the RFP experiment RFX-mod2, a new THB is designed and tested for the first time at the TCV tokamak. It acquires an additional emission line at 501.6 nm, which is exploited to estimate the radiation re-absorption, which is not negligible in regions of large neutral He densities (leading to high re-absorption) and simultaneously low electron density and temperature (lack of other excitation channels). It affects the measurements most strongly at the far SOL, while the significance of re-absorption decreases as it approaches the separatrix. In this paper, plasma density and temperature profiles of the plasma edge at the outboard midplane of TCV, measured with this newly designed THB, are presented. For the first time, the effect of radiation re-absorption on the estimation of electron temperature and density profiles is experimentally measured in a tokamak using the 501 nm line emission intensity. Different CRMs are compared with and without radiation re-absorption, showing good agreement when re-absorption is included and demonstrating how it plays an important role in the far SOL, as expected.

We show in experiments that a long, underdense, relativistic proton bunch propagating in plasma undergoes the oblique instability, which we observe as filamentation. We determine a threshold value for the ratio between the bunch transverse size and plasma skin depth for the instability to occur. At the threshold, the outcome of the experiment alternates between filamentation and self-modulation instability (evidenced by longitudinal modulation into microbunches). Time-resolved images of the bunch density distribution reveal that filamentation grows to an observable level late along the bunch, confirming the spatiotemporal nature of the instability. We provide a rough estimate of the amplitude of the magnetic field generated in the plasma by the instability and show that the associated magnetic energy increases with plasma density.

We present the first results of electron density and temperature measurements obtained from Thomson scattering at the helicon plasma source (HPS) for the AWAKE project. These measurements are compared to simulation results from a 1D power and particle balance model (PPM), confirming that the plasma can be fully sustained by collisional power dissipation. The variations in plasma parameters under different experimental conditions are evaluated in the PPM framework. We discuss current limitations of the model and propose possible improvements. Additionally, we suggest modifications to the existing HPS setup to enhance axial plasma homogeneity.

Self-modulation is a beam–plasma instability that is useful to drive large-amplitude wakefields with bunches much longer than the plasma skin depth. We present experimental results showing that, when increasing the ratio between the initial transverse size of the bunch and the plasma skin depth, the instability occurs later along the bunch, or not at all, over a fixed plasma length because the amplitude of the initial wakefields decreases. We show cases for which self-modulation does not develop, and we introduce a simple model discussing the conditions for which it would not occur after any plasma length. Changing bunch size and plasma electron density also changes the growth rate of the instability. We discuss the impact of these results on the design of a particle accelerator based on the self-modulation instability seeded by a relativistic ionization front, such as the future upgrade of the Advanced WAKefield Experiment.

A critical component of the Advanced Wakefield (AWAKE) experiment [1] for proton-driven plasma wakefield acceleration is the source that provides the suitable plasma environment. The stringent requirements: scalable in length (~100 m in future experiments) [2] , high electron density (n e ) (2 x 10 20 m -3 – 7 x 10 20 m -3 ) with a longitudinal homogeneity at the 0.25% level [3] , and tunnel compatibility, pose a major physical and engineering challenge to the plasma source and the corresponding diagnostics.

Plasma wakefield acceleration is a promising technology to reduce the size of particle accelerators. The use of high energy protons to drive wakefields in plasma has been demonstrated during Run 1 of the AWAKE programme at CERN. Protons of energy 400 GeV drove wakefields that accelerated electrons to 2 GeV in under 10 m of plasma. The AWAKE collaboration is now embarking on Run 2 with the main aims to demonstrate stable accelerating gradients of 0.5–1 GV/m, preserve emittance of the electron bunches during acceleration and develop plasma sources scalable to 100s of metres and beyond. By the end of Run 2, the AWAKE scheme should be able to provide electron beams for particle physics experiments and several possible experiments have already been evaluated. This article summarises the programme of AWAKE Run 2 and how it will be achieved as well as the possible application of the AWAKE scheme to novel particle physics experiments.

A long, narrow, relativistic charged particle bunch propagating in plasma is subject to the self-modulation (SM) instability. We show that SM of a proton bunch can be seeded by the wakefields driven by a preceding electron bunch. SM timing reproducibility and control are at the level of a small fraction of the modulation period. With this seeding method, we independently control the amplitude of the seed wakefields with the charge of the electron bunch and the growth rate of SM with the charge of the proton bunch. Seeding leads to larger growth of the wakefields than in the instability case.

High resolution spectroscopy on the Tokamak à Configuration Variable (TCV) divertor plasma provided Doppler broadening measurements to infer the ion and neutral temperature of injected helium gas. This paper presents the Divertor Spectroscopy System's (DSS) access to He II ion temperature measurements over a broad range, ≈0.5-15 eV, with an uncertainty of <10% for most of the studied plasma discharges. TCV's shaping flexibility was employed to validate these measurements against Thomson scattering across the DSS lines of sight. In detachment-related experiments, Ti(He II) ≃ Te, making this diagnostic a reliable thermometer along the divertor leg plasma over the wide range of magnetic equilibria and divertor configurations achievable in TCV. A detailed description of the diagnostic hardware, data analysis, and sources of uncertainty is presented.

The tokamak à configuration variable (TCV) continues to leverage its unique shaping capabilities, flexible heating systems and modern control system to address critical issues in preparation for ITER and a fusion power plant. For the 2019–20 campaign its configurational flexibility has been enhanced with the installation of removable divertor gas baffles, its diagnostic capabilities with an extensive set of upgrades and its heating systems with new dual frequency gyrotrons. The gas baffles reduce coupling between the divertor and the main chamber and allow for detailed investigations on the role of fuelling in general and, together with upgraded boundary diagnostics, test divertor and edge models in particular. The increased heating capabilities broaden the operational regime to include T e / T i ∼ 1 and have stimulated refocussing studies from L-mode to H-mode across a range of research topics. ITER baseline parameters were reached in type-I ELMy H-modes and alternative regimes with ‘small’ (or no) ELMs explored. Most prominently, negative triangularity was investigated in detail and confirmed as an attractive scenario with H-mode level core confinement but an L-mode edge. Emphasis was also placed on control, where an increased number of observers, actuators and control solutions became available and are now integrated into a generic control framework as will be needed in future devices. The quantity and quality of results of the 2019–20 TCV campaign are a testament to its successful integration within the European research effort alongside a vibrant domestic programme and international collaborations.

We present the design and operation of a suite of Gas Puff Imaging (GPI) diagnostic systems installed on the Tokamak à Configuration Variable (TCV) for the study of turbulence in the plasma edge and Scrape-Off-Layer (SOL). These systems provide the unique ability to simultaneously collect poloidal 2D images of plasma dynamics at the outboard midplane, around the X-point, in both the High-Field Side (HFS) and Low-Field Side (LFS) SOL, and in the divertor region. We describe and characterize an innovative control system for deuterium and helium gas injection, which is becoming the default standard for the other gas injections at TCV. Extensive pre-design studies and the different detection systems are presented, including an array of avalanche photodiodes and a high-speed CMOS camera. First results with spatial and time resolutions of up to ≈2 mm and 0.5 µs, respectively, are described, and future upgrades of the GPI diagnostics for TCV are discussed.

A precise characterization of the incoming proton bunch parameters is required to accurately simulate the self-modulation process in the Advanced Wakefield Experiment (AWAKE). This paper presents an analysis of the parameters of the incoming proton bunches used in the later stages of the AWAKE Run 1 data-taking period. The transverse structure of the bunch is observed at multiple positions along the beamline using scintillating or optical transition radiation screens. The parameters of a model that describes the bunch transverse dimensions and divergence are fitted to represent the observed data using Bayesian inference. The analysis is tested on simulated data and then applied to the experimental data.

We use a relativistic ionization front to provide various initial transverse wakefield amplitudes for the self-modulation of a long proton bunch in plasma. We show experimentally that, with sufficient initial amplitude [≥(4.1±0.4)  MV/m], the phase of the modulation along the bunch is reproducible from event to event, with 3%-7% (of 2π) rms variations all along the bunch. The phase is not reproducible for lower initial amplitudes. We observe the transition between these two regimes. Phase reproducibility is essential for deterministic external injection of particles to be accelerated.

We present numerical simulations and experimental results of the self-modulation of a long proton bunch in a plasma with linear density gradients along the beam path. Simulation results agree with the experimental results reported [F. Braunmller, T. Nechaeva et al. (AWAKE Collaboration), Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 264801 (2020)]: with negative gradients, the charge of the modulated bunch is lower than with positive gradients. In addition, the bunch modulation frequency varies with gradient. Simulation results show that dephasing of the wakefields with respect to the relativistic protons along the plasma is the main cause for the loss of charge. The study of the modulation frequency reveals details about the evolution of the self-modulation process along the plasma. In particular for negative gradients, the modulation frequency across time-resolved images of the bunch indicates the position along the plasma where protons leave the wakefields. Simulations and experimental results are in excellent agreement.