First operations with the new Collective Thomson Scattering diagnostic on the Frascati Tokamak Upgrade device

Anomalous emissions were found over the last few years in spectra of Collective Thomson Scattering (CTS) diagnostics in tokamak devices such as TEXTOR, ASDEX and FTU, in addition to real CTS signals. The signal frequency, down-shifted with respect to the probing one, suggested a possible origin in Parametric Decay Instability (PDI) processes correlated with the presence of magnetic islands and occurring for pumping wave power levels well below the threshold predicted by conventional models. A threshold below or close to the Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ECRH) power levels could limit, under certain circumstances, the use of the ECRH in fusion devices. An accurate characterization of the conditions for the occurrence of this phenomenon and of its consequences is thus of primary importance. Exploiting the front-steering configuration available with the real-time launcher, the implementation of a new CTS setup now allows studying these anomalous emission phenomena in FTU under conditions of density and wave injection geometry that are more similar to those envisaged for CTS in ITER. The upgrades of the diagnostic are presented as well as a few preliminary spectra detected with the new system during the very first operations in 2014. The present work has been carried out under an EUROfusion Enabling Research project. A shorter version of this contribution is due to be published in PoS at: 1st EPS conference on Plasma Diagnostics © 2015 Istituto di Fisica del Plasma - CNR.