Plasma-Potential Diagnostic (PPD) hardware used on the Tandem Mirror Experiment-Upgrade (TMX-U)

The PPD is an instrument used to indirectly measure the potential of the center-cell plasma of TMX-U. Thallium ions are injected at energies of about 60 keV from an ion gun capable of 80 kV operation. The singly charged ions collide with plasma electrons and generate double-charged ions. Ions in the higher charge state exit the plasma and are detected in an electrostatic energy analyzer. From measurements of the injected ion energy and the output ion energy one can determine the plasma potential in the ionization region. This paper discusses hardware and techniques for calibrating the energy analyzer on the PPD. Initially, calibrating the PPD analyzer required full operation of the TMX-U magnets to deflect the beam into the energy analyzer. Since it is a hazard to operate the magnets while personnel are in the pit area, calibration was done remotely. This was not only time consuming but also required magnet system operation personnel