Diagnostics Development on the Route Towards Fusion Reactors

Preface.- The Core-Plasma CXRS Diagnostic for ITER: An Introduction to the Current Design.- Present Status of ITER Neutron Diagnostics Development.- Energetic Particle Diagnostics in Present Tokamaks and Challenges Towards a Burning Plasma.- Optical Time-Resolved Diagnostics of Laser-Produced Plasmas.- Fusion Neutrons: Tritium Breeding and Impact on Wall Materials and Components of Diagnostic Systems.- Advanced Neutron Spectroscopy in Fusion Research.- Liquid Scintillators Neutron Response Function: A Tutorial.- Review of Neutron Diagnostics Based on Fission Reactions Induced by Fusion Neutrons.- Neutron Diagnostics for Tokamak Plasma: From a Plasma Diagnostician Perspective.- Development of Microwave Imaging Diagnostics for WEST Tokamak.- Plasma Magnetic Control in Tokamak Devices.- Advancements in Plasma Control Supervision.- Bayesian Data Analysis for Gaussian Process Tomography.- Current Research into Applications of Tomography for Fusion Diagnostics.- Current Research into Applications of Tomography for Fusion Diagnostics.- Multichannel Data Acquisition System for GEM Detectors.- FPGA and Embedded Systems Based Fast Data Acquisition and Processing for GEM Detectors.- Evolution of the Pinched Column During Hard X-ray and Neutron Emission in a Dense Plasma Focus.- Cryogenics in Fusion: Industrial Approach of Cryogenics Applied to Fusion Plants.

Didier Mazon is a physicist at IRFM CEA Cadarache and since 2016  he is Functional Leader of the  the Fusion Plasma Physics department. In 2016 he also became Co-Chair of the ITPA Topical Group Diagnostics.

From 2014 to 2016 he was Chair of the ITPA Diagnostic Working Group on Real time diagnostic.  From 2008-2013 he was Leader of the EFDA ‘Feedback Control Group’ and from 2009-2013 EFDA Deputy Leader of the ‘Topical Group Diagnostics’. Between 2007 and 2010 he was Deputy Task Force Leader for Diagnostics on JET. His main duties are to coordinate the diagnostics and control activity in Europe in preparation of ITER (experimental Fusion machine under construction in Cadarache France) and DEMO (project of a Fusion reactor that will follow the ITER experimentation) but also to follow and coordinate the diagnostics activities in the European Tokamaks and encourage the implementation of new diagnostics and new techniques.

He received a Ph.D. degree in physics in 1996 in the field of energy and combustion from the University of Provence, France and worked with ONERA in the field of the propulsion of the European space rocket Arianne V. He then spent many years at JET at the Culham Science Centre as research scientist, where he worked on real-time plasma equilibrium reconstruction, real-time measurement systems, data mining and feedback control of plasma parameters. He performed also many experiment at JET in the field of profile control in order to reach steady state scenarios. In 1999, he joined the CEA Cadarache (France), where he is responsible for the Bremsstrahlung emission and Soft X-rays diagnostics. He works on the development of real-time diagnostics and feedback algorithms for the simultaneous control of the current density and pressure profiles with direct applications in JET and Tore Supra.

His research interests include plasma physics, in particular, understanding and control of internal transport barriers, control systems, plasma equilibrium and impurity transport studies. He wrote three patents related to the development of new techniques for the acquisition and unfolding of the Hard and Soft X-ray measurement. He has also a large experience in teaching physics and still forms young students during their internships and leads their research as Director during their Phd thesis. He published more than 200 articles in less than 15 years in renowned international journal and conferences as lead author or co-author.