Ion Temperature Measurements on the HL-2A Tokamak using a Retarding Field Analyser

World energy demands are increasing while the ability to generate that energy currently requires relying on non-renewable, and increasingly unsustainable, sources. If this trend is going to be curbed, either the energy demands will have to be limited, or new methods of sustainable energy need to be found. The former option is beyond the scope of this research so focus here is on new energy sources. Nuclear fusion is a possible option due to the output energy possible and the ease of access to fuel. Radioactive byproducts are also very limited. The tokamak uses magnetic fields to achieve fusion conditions and is one of the leading contenders for a working fusion reactor. The topic of this research is the construction of a probe used on the tokamak to measure ion temperature in the edge region of the plasma. A model was also constructed to aid in the interpretation of experimental data. The probe itself was constructed, along with the electrical circuits required for its operation, in Hefei, China, and was mounted on a reciprocating drive on the HL-2A tokamak in Chengdu, China. Reciprocation allowed for the construction of an ion temperature profile. A profile was constructed showing the evolution of temperature throughout a single shot. However, due to some noise constraints on the data, another profile was constructed averaging several shots together. This increased the quality of the temperature data at the expense of seeing how temperature changes over single shots. To address some issues related to this probe, an improved probe was designed and constructed. It is currently being used on the superconducting EAST tokamak in Hefei, China