Modeling the electron cyclotron emission radiation signature from suprathermal electrons in a tokamak

An Electron Cyclotron Emission (ECE) modeling code has been developed to model ECE radiation with an arbitrary electron momentum distribution, a small oblique angle, both ordinary (O-mode) and extraordinary polarizations (X-mode), and multiple cyclotron frequency harmonics. The emission and absorption coefficients are calculated using the Poynting theorem from the cold plasma dispersion and the electron-microwave interaction from the full anti-Hermitian tensor. The modeling shows several ECE radiation signatures that can be used to diagnose the population of suprathermal electrons in a tokamak. First, in an n = 2 X-mode (X2) optically thick plasma and oblique ECE view, the modeling shows that only suprathermal electrons, which reside in a finite region of the velocity and space domains, can effectively generate cyclotron emissions to the ECE receiver. The code also finds that the O1 mode is sensitive to suprathermal electrons of both a high v⊥ and v‖, while the X2 mode is dominantly sensitive to suprathermal electrons of a high v⊥. The modeling shows that an oblique ECE system with both X/O polarization and a broad frequency coverage can be used to effectively yield information of the suprathermal electron population in a tokamak.