Electron cyclotron emission imaging in tokamak plasmas

We discuss the recent history and latest developments of the electron cyclotron emission imaging diagnostic technique, wherein electron temperature is measured in magnetically confined plasmas with two-dimensional spatial resolution. The key enabling technologies for this technique are the large-aperture optical systems and the linear detector arrays sensitive to millimeter-wavelength radiation. We present the status and recent progress on existing instruments as well as new systems under development for future experiments. We also discuss data analysis techniques relevant to plasma imaging diagnostics and present recent temperature fluctuation results from the tokamak experiment for technology oriented research (TEXTOR). (C) 2010 Optical Society of America