David Thomas

University Of York

I am currently studying for a PhD under the supervision of Roddy Vann (York) and Vladimir Shevchenko (CCFE) . My project is to image the microwave emission from tokamaks in order to diagnose turbulence and measure the edge current density. The stability of edge localized modes (ELMs) has been found to depend on the pressure gradient and current density at the edge of a tokamak plasma. The pressure gradient can already be measured accurately using Thomson Scattering; however, measurements of the current density have proved to be more elusive. Current density can be measured indirectly by imaging microwave emission. Being able to measure both of these quantities simultaneously will allow the tokamak to run in a way best suited for ELM mitigation.