Implementation and data processing of a five-channel microwave interferometer with high temporal resolution and low...

A five-channel microwave interferometer with high temporal resolution and high phase resolution has been developed for measuring electron density profiles and fluctuations on the Sino-UNIted Spherical Tokamak. A correction algorithm, based on the low signal amplitude detection, is proposed to eliminate the fringe jump errors. The correction algorithm achieves an accuracy of 92%. The density profile is reconstructed through the Park-matrix method, with the geometry of magnetic surfaces calculated by the equilibrium fitting. The reconstructed density profiles for discharges with supersonic molecular beam injection are in good agreement with the results of another 94 GHz single-channel horizontal interferometer and the Langmuir probes. The temporal resolution of the system is 0.5 µs and the line-integrated electron density resolution is 1 × 10¹⁵ m^-2, which benefits from the single sideband modulation technique. Therefore, the multichannel interferometer system is capable of studying the details of the high-frequency (up to 200 kHz) density fluctuation such as that in the minor disruption event.