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Updated: Feb 3, 2026

Quantitative Analysis of Vacuum Induction Melting by Laser-induced Breakdown Spectroscopy
Published on: June 10, 2019
Using Laser-Induced Rydberg Spectroscopy diagnostic for direct measurements of the local electric field in the edge
L Reymond1, A Diallo2, V Vekselman2
1Swiss Plasma Center, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland.
Abstract:
We discuss a novel diagnostic allowing direct measurements of the local electric field in the edge region of NSTX/NSTX-U. This laser based diagnostic's principle consists of depleting the naturally populated n = 3 level to a Rydberg state-sensitive to electric fields-that will result in a suppression of part of the D emission. We refer to this approach as Laser-Induced Rydberg Spectroscopy. It is shown that the local electric field can be measured through the Stark induced resonances observed as dips in the D emission. Using forward-modeling of simulated absorption spectra, we show precisions reaching ±2 kV m-1 in regions with a local electric field of 15 kV m-1.
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