Initial Testing of Optical Arc Detector Inside 285/300 Fast Wave Antenna Box on DIII-D

Locating arcs within the fast wave current drive system is necessary to improve antenna performance and coupling to the plasma. Previously, there had been no way to observe arcs inside the vacuum vessel in an ICRF antenna on DIII-D. A new diagnostic that uses photomultiplier tubes has been installed for the 2012 run campaign on the 285/300 antenna of the fast wave system. The diagnostic has top and bottom views of the back of the four antenna straps and uses narrow-bandpass visible filters to isolate emission lines of copper (577 nm) and deuterium (656.1 nm). This diagnostic is based on the ORNL filterscope system currently in use on multiple devices. The system will be used to guide fast wave antenna conditioning, plasma operation and provide insight into future antenna upgrades on DIII-D.