High Speed Data Acquisition System

Dr George Tynan, Tynan Research Group               Firestorm Data Acquisition Hardware

Vektrex designed and constructed a custom high-speed data acquisition system to support RF plasma research conducted at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) by the Tynan Research Group, headed by Dr. George Tynan. The Firestorm system replaces an obsolete CAMAC system with new VXI data acquisition hardware and custom National Instruments LabVIEW-based control software. Firestorm is capable of sample rates to 10 MHz over 96 channels, and supports fusion research into the radial density of rotating plasma.

Expertise Used

Technologies used include National Instruments LabVIEW software, VXI data acquisition hardware, and MXI and VXI controllers. Firestorm features fast captures and data file output in a proprietary format that is easily importable into Matlab for analysis.

Additional Information

The chart below shows the evolution of the frequency spectrum of self-generated plasma density fluctuations as the magnetic field is raised.  Such fluctuations can cause increased mixing rates of plasma in fusion devices and thus make the achievement of fusion more difficult.  Research at UCSD is underway to study the detailed physical mechanisms that can lead to the reduction or elimination of such turbulent mixing and thereby aid in the attainment of the conditions needed for controlled nuclear fusion.

Experimental Results