Neutral pressure measured by fast ionization gauge in HL-2A

A fast ionization gauge capable of working in a strong magnetic field and noisy environment is developed for the pressure measurement in the main chamber and the divertor chamber of the HL-2A tokamak. The neutral pressure in the main chamber evidently decreases after in-situ siliconization. Improvement of boundary plasma confinement is observed with SMBI or PI fueling after siliconization. The neutral pressure in the main chamber for divertor configuration is 50% lower than that for limiter one. The pressure in the divertor chamber rises when the strike point moves toward the bottom of the vertical target plates. The maximum pressure compression of is 24. The relative high pressure in the main chamber is contributed primarily by plasma limiter interaction due to the short distance from separatrix to limiter and secondly by neutral flux from the divertor chamber to the main chamber by leaks in HL-2A. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.