DIII-D divertor reflectometer system

Divertor density profiles, asymmetries, turbulence, and MARFE diagnosis are extremely important and affect the divertor design process for ITER and other future devices. In addition, a functioning divertor density profile system will be essential for the operation of these machines. It is thus critical to prototype and demonstrate diagnostics capable of operating in a divertor environment. To meet these needs a divertor reflectometer system has been designed and installed on DIII-D. The design stresses flexibility, modularity, and simplicity. It consists of a circular, smoothwall, overmoded waveguide followed by a TE₁₁⇒HE₁₁ mode converter (the HE₁₁ mode is a low loss Gaussian mode with a very symmetric radiation pattern, optimal for this use) thus allowing use of an arbitrary polarization (f _pe ,f _LH ,f _RH). The design provides for testing of a variety of antennas/probing directions including: upward to probe the X-point region, including MARFEs, sideways to probe outboard/inboard divertor legs, and oppositely directed to probe both divertor legs simultaneously. System design, operational considerations, and experimental data are presented.