Forward modelling of the Cotton-Mouton effect polarimetry on EAST tokamak

Abstract

Abstract Measurement of plasma electron density by far-infrared laser polarimetry has become a routine
and indispensable tool in magnetic confinement fusion research. This article presents the design
of a Cotton-Mouton polarimetric interferometer, which provides a reliable density measurement
without fringe jumps. Cotton-Mouton effect on EAST is studied by Stokes equation with three
parameters (s1, s2, s3). It demonstrates that under the condition of a small Cotton-Mouton
effect, parameter s2 contains information about Cotton-Mouton effect which is proportional
to the line-integrated density. For a typical EAST plasma, the magnitude of Cotton-Mouton
effects is less than 2π for laser wavelength 432µm. Refractive effect due to density gradient is
calculated to be negligible. Time modulation of Stokes parameters (s2, s3) provides heterodyne
measurement. Due to the instabilities arising from laser oscillation and beam refraction in
plasmas, it is necessary for the system to be insensitive to variations in the amplitude of the
detection signal. Furthermore, it is shown that non-equal amplitude of X-mode and O-mode
within a certain range only affects the DC offset of Stokes parameters (s2,s3) but does not
greatly influence the phase measurements of Cotton-Mouton effects.