Multichannel microwave interferometer for the levitated dipole experiment.

A four-channel microwave interferometer (center frequency: 60 GHz) has been constructed to measure plasma density profiles in the levitated dipole experiment (LDX). The LDX interferometer has a unique design owing to the unique geometry of LDX. The main design features of the interferometer are: (1) the transmitted beam traverses the plasma entirely in O-mode; (2) the interferometer is a heterodyne system employing two free-running oscillators; (3) four signals of data are received from just on transmitted beam; (4) phase shifts are detected in quadrature. Calibration tests demonstrate that the interferometer measures phase shifts with an uncertainty of approximately 5 degrees . Plasma densities in LDX corresponding to phase shifts of up to 5pi are routinely and successfully measured.