Imaging of high-speed dust particle trajectories on NSTX

Imaging of high-speed incandescent dust particle trajectories in a tokamak plasma has been accomplished on NSTX using up to three high-speed cameras each viewing the same plasma volume from different locations and operating at speeds up to 68 000 frames/s with exposure times varying from 2 to 300 mu s. The dynamics of the dust trajectories can be quite complex exhibiting a large variation in both speed (10-200m/s) and direction. Simulations of these trajectories will be utilized to ascertain the role dust may play in future machines such as ITER where significant dust production from wall erosion is expected. NSTX has numerous view ports including both tangential as well as radial views in both the midplane and lower divertors. Several vertical ports are also available so that a few specific regions in NSTX may be viewed simultaneously from several different camera positions. The cameras can be operated in the full visible spectrum but near-infrared filters can be utilized to enhance the observation of incandescent particles against a bright background. A description of the cameras and required optics is presented. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.