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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE
Start-Up Studies of GLAST-III Spherical Tokamak
in the Presence of Poloidal Field
Zahoor Ahmad , S. Ahmad, Farah Deeba, A. Qayyum, Muhammad Athar Naveed, Riaz Khan, Rafaqat Ali,
Muhammad Aqib Javed, N. Ahmed, and S. Hussain
Abstract— GLAST-III (glass spherical tokamak) is a small
device having an aspect ratio of two (R/a = 2) with major
radius R = 20 cm and minor radius a = 10 cm. Experiments
are performed to examine the effect of increasing the poloidal
field (PF) produced by poloidal coils as well as to study the effect
of the inductance of PF coils on the plasma current formation.
To investigate the GLAST-III plasma, several diagnostic tools
such as Rogowski coil, loop voltage, photodiode, Optical emission
spectroscopy, high-speed camera, and Langmuir probe are used.
After optimizing the working pressure, the first experiment is per-
formed using toroidal field coils and central solenoid along with
radio frequency (RF) pre-ionization source. A plasma current
of 1 kA is achieved for 1.2 ms. In later experiments, the effect
of the poloidal magnetic field is also included. It is observed
that with increasing the PF, the plasma current increases, attain
a maximum value (5 kA) and then after a critical value of
the applied poloidal magnetic field, the plasma current starts
decreasing. Similarly, with the inclusion of inductor in series with
the PF coils, the plasma current value is reduced and its pulse
duration is increased. Both optical emission and Langmuir probe
diagnostics results show a similar trend of the plasma current.
Index Terms— Magnetic confinement, optical diagnostics,
plasma diagnostics, tokamak devices, tokamak operation.
I. I NTRODUCTION
I N THE 1980s, it was already known that a low aspect
ratio ( A) tokamak can give better results than large
aspect ratio tokamaks [1]. Spherical Tokamak (ST) is a low
aspect ratio magnetic confinement device whose aspect ratio
( A = R/a) is equal or less than two, whereas “R” is the
major radius and “a” is the minor radius of the tokamak.
STs research has received great attraction due to the natural
elongation, high β (∝1/A) and being economical [2], [3].
There are several small- to medium-sized ST operating in the
world [4]–[8]. Significant contributions in ST achievement are
from mega ampere (MA) level devices like MAST [9] and
NSTX [10]; however, contributions from the small ST devices
cannot be ignored [11]. Small confinement devices have the
advantage of flexibility in parameters and ease of access for
the replacement/modification of component.
Manuscript received June 5, 2018; revised May 3, 2019 and July 31, 2019;
accepted August 15, 2019. This work was supported by IAEA through CRP on
“Utilization of the Network of Small Magnetic Confinement Fusion Devices
for Mainstream Fusion Research.” The review of this article was arranged by
Senior Editor E. Surrey. (Corresponding author: Zahoor Ahmad.)
The authors are with the National Tokamak Fusion Program, Islamabad
44000, Pakistan (e-mail: zahoor_a@yahoo.com).
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this article are available
online at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPS.2019.2936265
0093-3813 © 2019 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
1
GLAST-III is a small glass ST which is operational at
National Tokamak Fusion Program, Pakistan [12], [13]. The
major radius R = 20 cm and minor radius a = 10 cm, making
its aspect ratio of A = 2. The magnetic field at the resonance
layer is BT = 0.1 T, which is the important condition for
electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) assisted tokamak start-up
for 2.45-GHz source. The purpose of this device is to create
tokamak plasma in a small dielectric vacuum vessel and study
its properties. One of the advantages of using dielectric vessel
is field penetration without any delay.
To find the flux surface geometry, we have followed the
Lao et al. approach [14]. According to which, it is possible to
represent the coordinate transformation as a Fourier series in
θ assuming flux surfaces possess up-down symmetry
∞

R(ρ, θ ) = Rn (ρ) cos nθ
n=0
∞

Z (ρ, θ ) = Z n (ρ) sin θ .
n=0
The amplitudes R0 (ρ), R1 (ρ), and Z 0 (ρ) represent the
major radius, the minor radius, and the ellipticity of the flux
surfaces, respectively. Whereas R2 (ρ) and Z 2 (ρ) represent
the triangularity of the flux surfaces. For the glass tokamak,
we have used the R = 20 − 10 cosθ + cos2θ + 0.5cos3θ and
Z = 25 sinθ + 2.5 sin2θ + 0.25sin3θ . Using the parameters
of GLAST, flux geometry is shown in Fig. 1(a) and (b). The
poloidal flux function ψ is determined using the FLOW Code
[15] and shown in Fig. 2.
One of the diagnostics used on GLAST is optical emission
spectroscopy (OES), which is an intrusive diagnostic tech-
nique to obtain the information of radiating atoms, molecules
and their ions and thus, offer the possibility of real-time
observation. Many diagnostics based on the emission spec-
troscopy (ultraviolet and visible range) have been employed
to investigate the plasma parameters, impurity influx and wall
recycling, and plasma-wall interaction mechanisms [16], [17].
The electron temperature measured from the spectroscopic
technique is averaged, in the line of sight, of the plasma
discharge.
This manuscript is organized as follows. Section I describes
the introduction of ST and GLAST. Section II is dedicated to
the description of experiments. Section III shows the results
of Langmuir probe diagnostics whereas Section IV shows the
results from OES and high-speed imaging camera. Section V
concludes the results.
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2 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE

Fig. 2. Poloidal flux function where Shafranove shift can be seen. Here R
and Z are in m.

Fig. 3. Experimental set up of GLAST-III.

of the toroidal field (TF) coils, ohmic heating central solenoid

Fig. 1. (a) Plasma cross section along with CS, CC, inner PF and outer PF
coils. Here R and Z are in cm. (b) 3-D geometry of flux surfaces representing
the plasma surface. Here R and Z are in cm.
II. E XPERIMENTS
Experimental setup of GLAST is shown in Fig. 3. The
chamber is made of Pyrex glass and is evacuated to the base
pressure of 8 × 10−7 mbar. This experimental setup consists
(CS), and poloidal field (PF) coil system. GLAST-III has an
air core solenoid; therefore, we have added four compensation
coils in series with it to compensate the magnetic field. TF is
produced by 12 equally spaced single turn coils. Inner legs of
TF coils are twisted in such a way that it facilitates connections
between adjacent coils and provides an additional vertical
component of the magnetic field. This twist adds a novelty in
TF construction. Due to the twist, a loop voltage is produced
in the toroidal direction during the current rise in TF coils.
In our case, the rise time of TF coils current is almost 0.5 ms
and depending upon the charging voltage of fast capacitor
bank, the loop voltage is measured 0.5–1.0 V. This additional
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AHMAD et al.: START-UP STUDIES OF GLAST-III ST IN THE PRESENCE OF PF
Fig. 4. Currents from different coils (TF, CS, PF), microwave power and
loop voltage (Vacuum Shot -no fill gas) with TF charging voltage 480 and
90 V, CS charging voltage 4.5 kV, and PF charging voltage 800 V.
loop voltage accelerate the free electron present in the gas and
along with Microwave helps to produce pre-ionization before
that onset of CS loop voltage. Further, due to the twist in TF
inner leg, CS induces current on TF coil; as a consequence,
the current and hence TF is enhanced. For the equilibrium,
six (06) outer PF coils with up-down symmetry along with
an inner PF (placed inside CS) are used in series. Therefore,
the same current flows through all seven (07) PF coils.
The plasma current is measured with the help of a Rogowski
coil (calibrated 4.2 mV/kA). There is a loop around the
vessel at the midplane to measure the induced loop voltage
of the CS. A photodiode BPX65 is used to monitor the light
emission from plasma. For the H-line (here Hydrogen plays
a role of impurity) at 656.28 nm in Argon discharge plasma,
a monochromator coupled with photomultiplier tube is used.
Multi tip (triple) Langmuir probe is used for the edge electron
temperature and HR 4000 spectrometer is used to record
an emission spectrum of plasma. Two high-speed cameras
are used for imaging purposes. Currents from different coils
are recoded with the help of LEM current transducer and
current transformer (CT). LEM is a current transducer to
measure current from the wire with more accuracy. Its working
principle is based upon the Hall effect. A CT is a type of
transformer to measure current. CT consists of a circular
core and a secondary winding. Current carrying wire passing
through the center of core serves as the primary. Changing
current in the wire induces magnetic field which, in turn,
produces current in the secondary winding.
Before the plasma current experiment, wall condition-
ing is performed to reduce the impurity influx from
3
Fig. 5. Plots of TF, CS, PF (=0) currents, microwave, loop voltage,
photodiode and plasma current for TF charging voltage FB = 480, SB 90 V,
CS charging voltage 4.5 kV, and PF charging voltage 0 V
the vacuum vessel using several microwave discharges.
In plasma current experiments, the TF coils are ener-
gized by discharging the combination of fast (Charging
voltage = 480 V, Capacitance = 3.0 mF) and slow (charging
voltage = 90 V, capacitance = 600 mF) banks along with the
radio frequency (RF) 2.45-GHz pre-ionization source (800 W).
For this purpose, we have modified the magnetron of a domes-
tic microwave oven in such a way that it can give us a wave
pulse of 4–6 ms. RF pre-ionization source along with the TF
ionizes the atoms at the resonance frequency of ωce . A rectan-
gular E-plane horn antenna in TE10 mode is used to inject RF
waves in the perpendicular direction with the plasma torus for
the benefit of pre-ionization. TE10 mode is a dominant mode
in rectangular waveguide due to its lowest cutoff frequency.
TE stands for the transverse electric mode in which the electric
field of the signal is perpendicular to the direction of propaga-
tion through waveguide. Then, ohmic heating CS is energized
with capacitor bank (charging voltage = 4.5 kV, capacitance =
6.6 mF) after 1 ms delay from TF and Microwave. CS provides
a loop voltage for the discharge initiation and current ramp-
up. In Fig. 4, we have plotted currents from CS, TF, PF coils,
MW pulse, and loop voltage in the vacuum. The maximum
current in TF coils is 4.5 kA, in CS 5 kA and 150 A
in PF, whereas maximum recorded Loop voltage is 15 V.
Fig. 4 shows the currents from different coils when there is no
gas (vacuum ∼8×10−7 mbar). There is no microwave absorp-
tion in the absence of feed gas. Argon is introduced as feed
gas at an optimized pressure of 1 × 10−3 mbar. We are well
aware of the fact that Argon is not used as fuel gas for fusion
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4 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE

TABLE I
VALUES OF D IFFERENT I NDUCTORS A LONG W ITH THE R ESISTANCE

purposes; however, to optimize the system, it can be a good

and safe choice. Also, Ar being an inert/nonreactive gas will
not react with other elements. With this configuration, we can
generate plasma current up to 1.0 kA and pulselength of 1.0 ms
without energizing the poloidal coils. The discharge analysis
of this shot is shown in Fig. 5. The plasma current is formed
reached to 1 kA value and after 1.0 ms dropped to zero, and at
the same time loop voltage is suddenly decrease and increased
indicating the increase in the impurities involvement in plasma
[18]. Loop voltage spikes might also be caused by the sudden
drop of plasma current and the mutual inductance between the
plasma torus and the flux loop. Furthermore, PF is required to
balance the PF produced from the plasma current. The light
emission from the plasma and the plasma current region are
strongly co-related in the time domain. It may be noted that at
some point, plasma current is finished but plasma still exists
due to the presence of Microwave. The Rogowski coil and
photodiode signals confirm the formation of plasma current
as strong light and current signal appear at the same time.

A. Effect of Charging Voltage of Poloidal Coils

on Plasma Current
A series of experiments are performed to study the effect
of the poloidal magnetic field on the plasma current by
varying the PF coils charging voltage from 0 to 1200 V
[see Fig. 6(a)]. The plasma current for different PF values
is shown in Fig. 6(b). With the increase of PF, plasma current
is increased up to 5 kA for PF (Bp = 25 G) but beyond this
field, plasma current is slightly reduced. Similarly, at the same
time, pulselength of plasma current starts decreasing.

B. Effect of Inductance of Poloidal Coils

on Plasma Current
For the same parameters of CS, TF, MW and fixing the PF
at Bp = 25 G, the effect of varying PF inductance on plasma
current is studied. These inductances are connected in series
with PF coils. Table I shows the values of different inductors
along with the resistance.
The Plasma current is shown in Fig. 7 as a function of
inductance. It is observed that with the addition of inductors,
the value of plasma current is reduced whereas its pulse-
length/width is increased.
III. L ANGMUIR P ROBE A NALYSES
A multi-tip triple Langmuir probe is used for the edge elec-
tron temperature [19]. It is a simple but reasonably accurate
method of estimating edge electron temperature. The formula
Fig. 6. (a) Variation of PF coil current as a function of charging voltage.
(b) Variation of plasma current as a function of PF.
for electron temperature is as under
VP − V f
T ( eV ) =
ln2
where V p and V f are voltages on probes at a positive potential
and floating potential, respectively. The results are plotted in
Fig. 8. Fig. 8 shows with PF = 0, the edge electron tempera-
ture is 7 eV and at PF = 14 G, edge temperature is reduced
because plasma is confined and stays away from the wall.
However, with the further increase of plasma current due to the
increase in PF, the overall temperature of electrons is increased
and reaches at 8 eV for Bp = 25-27 G. We can observe that Te
signal lasts longer than the plasma current. The reason behind
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AHMAD et al.: START-UP STUDIES OF GLAST-III ST IN THE PRESENCE OF PF
Fig. 7. Plasma current comparison by varying the inductance of PF coils.
Fig. 8. Edge electron temperature for different PF values.
this phenomenon is that although plasma current vanishes after
1 ms, however, microwave pulse is still there and keeps heating
the plasma, there may microwave-driven current, small but
not negligible. For higher plasma currents, the temperature
slope is sharp and it reaches its maximum value quickly and
plasma starts radiating and then the temperature is dropped.
It is also observed that at the higher plasma current, the plasma
is fluctuating. Ar is having radiation losses; therefore, GLAST
plasma is cooled and extinguished quickly. As Ar has several
levels of ionization and has more radiation, therefore, it needs
to go for low Z gases like Helium or/and Hydrogen.
5
Fig. 9. Emission intensities of spectral lines for different applied PF values.
IV. S PECTROSCOPIC A NALYSIS
In GLAST-III, as vacuum vessel is made of Pyrex glass and
is transparent to optical radiations so that there is no need of
any window for OES measurements.
A. Spectroscopic Studies of Plasma for
Different Poloidal Field
HR-4000 spectrometer is used to record the spectrums of
plasma discharge. The spectral resolution of the spectrometer
is 0.75 nm. The fiber was connected to the spectrometer
through entrance slit of 25 μm and data were acquired with
the Spectrasuite software. At the current phase of GLAST-III
operation, the emission spectrum integrated over the whole
discharge duration is recorded and labeled by using NIST
data [20].
The effect of PF on the plasma current, electron temper-
ature, and light emission is investigated. For the purpose of
comparison, the emission spectrum is recorded for different
PF values and presented in Fig. 9. The result shows that the
intensity of the spectral lines decreases with the increase in
the PF beyond a certain limit.
The electron temperature is obtained from the slope of the
Boltzmann plot [21] using the following equation:
 
Iki λki Ek
ln =− +C
Aki gk kBT
here λki is the wavelength, Iki is the measured intensity, Aki is
the transition probability, gk is the statistical weight, and C is
the constant for a given atomic species. For the measurement
of electron temperature, the Boltzmann plot method is used for
different values of ln(Iki λki /Aki gk ) versus the energy of the
upper level for each considered transition, as shown in Fig. 10.
The electron temperature estimated from Boltzmann plot
at Bp = 25 G, found to be 2.55 eV. The monochromator is
used to measure the radiation intensity of a specific wavelength
emitted from the plasma. Fig. 11 shows that the plasma current
and electron temperature follow the same decreasing trend
with increasing PF beyond 25 G.
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6 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE
Fig. 10. Boltzmann plot for electron temperature at PF (Bp = 25 G).
Fig. 11. Variation of electron temperature with different poloidal
magnetic field.
Fig. 12. Optical emission spectrum from argon plasma at Bp = 25 G
with zero.
B. Spectroscopic Studies of Plasma for Different
Inductance of Poloidal Field Coils
The spectroscopic analysis is performed to study the
plasma-induced optical emission and the electron temperature
measurement for different values of PF inductance. The induc-
tance of the PF is changed by a varying number of inductors in
TABLE II
S ELECTED A R S PECTRAL L INE WAVELENGTH W ITH
C ORRESPONDING E NERGIES
Fig. 13. Comparison of emission intensities for different inductors connected
in series with PF coils.
Fig. 14. Behavior of the electron temperature with changing inductance.
series systematically. HR-4000 spectrometer is used to record
the spectrums for the various value of PF inductance.
The plasma current is produced by discharging the capacitor
bank (6.6 mF, 4.5 kV) across CS and PF having capacitor
bank (3 mF, 800 V) with time delays with respect to TF and
microwave. Emission spectrum recorded for same PF of 25 G
without the inclusion of any additional inductor in the circuit
is shown in Fig. 12. Fig. 13 shows the comparison of emission
intensities of spectral lines corresponding to wavelength with
the variations of inductors at PF 25 G. This shows that
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AHMAD et al.: START-UP STUDIES OF GLAST-III ST IN THE PRESENCE OF PF
Fig. 15. Behavior of the photodiode and H-impurity line with plasma current.
Fig. 16. High speed camera images of the GLAST discharge with plasma
current 1 kA (top) without PF, and plasma current 5 kA (bottom) with poloidal
magnetic field (Bp = 25 G). CS is located on the right side of the images.
the emission intensity decreases with the increase of the
inductance in the system. Boltzmann plot method is used to
measure the electron temperature. Table II shows spectral lines
with corresponding energies as follows.
Fig. 14 shows the behavior of electron temperature with a
variation of inductors for the same PF value. The result shows
that with the addition of inductors, the electron temperature
is reduced. Fig. 15 shows that the emitted light from the
photodiode and the H-line (in Argon plasma, it is considered as
7
an impurity) emission at 656.28 nm from the Monochromator
follows the plasma current. Photodiode shows the light even
after the plasma current is vanished. As explained earlier in
the case of Te, microwave pulse is still there to heat the plasma
and is responsible for the light in photodiode after the end of
plasma current.
C. High-Speed Imaging
A high-speed camera (1000 frames/s) is used to record the
real-time images of plasma. We have recorded two situations;
one with the plasma current of 1 kA and the other with plasma
current 5 kA. In both cases, it is observed that the plasma
is produced at the inboard side and then moves toward the
out-board side, as shown in Fig. 16. In the present set of PF
coils, the pre-defined and same current is passing from all the
coils, which is a passive method of controlling the plasma.
In the future, we need to develop a real-time active feedback
control for the plasma.
V. C ONCLUSION
With the inclusion of PF, plasma current increased and its
pulselength reduced. After the critical value (Bp = 25–27 G),
the plasma currents start decreasing. Images from the
high-speed camera show that the plasma hits the vessel wall
before extinguishing. With the inclusion of inductor, pulse-
length of plasma current increased and current value reduced
at the same time. Results from the probe and spectroscopic
diagnostic shows similar trends, although the temperature
calculated from the spectroscopic analysis is far below the
one calculated from the probe. This discrepancy arises because
probe results are based upon the Maxwellian plasma distribu-
tion whereas in an actual scenario at the edge of the tokamak,
plasma shows non-Maxwellian distribution.
There are two possible reasons for the small pulselength of
plasma current: 1) onset of impurities from the vessel and
2) Ar is having radiation losses; as a result, the GLAST
plasma is cooled and extinguished quickly. Ar has several
levels of ionization and has more radiation losses; therefore,
it needs to go for low Z gases like Hydrogen or/and Helium.
Furthermore, improvements to the vacuum conditions in the
vessel are required.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank J. Stockel and V. Weinzettl
for their technical discussion.
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Zahoor Ahmad was born in Mandi Bahauddin,
Pakistan, in 1969. He received the M.Sc. degree in
physics from Punjab University, Lahore, Pakistan,
and the M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees in plasma physics
from Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), Islamabad,
Pakistan.
From 1997 to 1998, he was a Research Fellow
with the Department of Physics, QAU. From 1998 to
2001, he was a Scientific Officer with the Research
and Development Labs, Islamabad. He was also a
Junior Scientist with the Rijnhuizen Institute for
Plasma Physics, Nieuwegein, The Netherlands, from 2001 to 2005. Later,
he was an Assistant Professor with Government College University, Lahore,
Pakistan, from 2005 to 2007. He is currently a Principal Scientist and the
Head of the Tokamak Design and Magnets Group, National Tokamak Fusion
Program, Islamabad. He has edited a book and a conference proceeding.
He has authored over 16 publications in reputed journals. His current
research interests include tokamak design, equilibrium, start-up, magnetic
fields, high-temperature superconductor, plasma surface interaction, staged-
pinch, and cascaded arc plasma.
Dr. Ahmad received the Research Productivity Award from the Pakistan
Council for Science and Technology, MoST, in 2010 and 2011.
S. Ahmad received the M.Sc. degree in physics from
the University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad,
Pakistan, in 1998, and the M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees
in plasma physics (experiment) from Quaid-i-Azam
University (QAU), Islamabad, Pakistan, in 2002 and
2006, respectively.
From 2001 to 2003, he was a Research Associate
in the PSF Project. From 2003 to 2006, he was
an ICTP Fellow for the Plasma Physics Project.
He is currently a Principal Scientist and the Head
of the Power Supply and Control System Group,
National Tokamak Fusion Program, Islamabad. He has authored one book
and more than 35 research articles. He has developed a ball pen probe for the
measurements of plasma potential, electron temperature, and radial electric
field in the edge region of GLAST spherical tokamak.
Dr. Ahmad received the Research Productivity Award from the Pakistan
Council for Science and Technology, MoST, in 2004 and 2007–2010.
Farah Deeba was born in Lahore, Pakistan, in 1979.
She received the M.Phil. degree in plasma physics
and the Ph.D. degree in theoretical plasma physics
from Government College (GC) University, Lahore,
in 2005 and 2013, respectively.
From 2000 to 2004, she was a Lecturer in physics
with the Queen Mary College at Lahore, Lahore.
From 2005 to 2007, she was a Research Fellow
at Salam Chair in GC University Lahore. She is
currently a Senior Scientist with the National Toka-
mak Fusion Program, Islamabad, Pakistan. She has
authored more than 13 international publications in reputed journals. She
has developed line-of-sight arrangement, through which radial and temporal
profile of hydrogen line emission, discharge initiation, and plasma breakdown
can be observed. She has developed four-channel photodiode array and optical
emission spectroscopic diagnostics in GLAST tokamak to measure plasma
parameters, such as electron temperature and electron number density. Her
current research interests include electron Bernstein waves in non-Maxwellian
plasma and its application in GLAST tokamak.
Dr. Deeba received the Research Productivity Award from the Pakistan
Council for Science and Technology, MoST, in 2010 and 2011.
A. Qayyum was born in Barnala, Pakistan, in 1965.
He received the M.Sc. degree in physics and the
M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees in experimental plasma
physics from Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU),
Islamabad, Pakistan, in 1990, 2002, and 2006,
respectively.
From 2001 to 2005, he was a Research Associate
with the Plasma Physics Laboratory, QAU. From
2006 to 2007, he was an Assistant Professor with
the Physics Department, Government College Uni-
versity, Lahore, Pakistan. He is currently a Principal
Scientist and the Head of the Electric Probes and Spectroscopy Group,
National Tokamak Fusion Program, Islamabad. He is involved in electrical
and optical diagnostic measurements of plasma in GLAST tokamak. He has
authored one book and more than 45 research articles. He has developed
sweep, triple, and emissive Langmuir probes for the measurement of plasma
parameters and associated fluctuations.
Dr. Qayyum was a recipient of the World Laboratory (International Center
for Scientific Culture) Scholarship for research project entitled “Establishment
of a Center for High-Energy Physics and Cosmology in Pakistan (CHEPCI)”
by the World Federation of Scientists, Lausanne, Switzerland. He received
the Research Productivity Awards from the Pakistan Council for Science and
Technology, MoST, for the years 2010–2012.
 This article has been accepted for inclusion in a future issue of this journal. Content is final as presented, with the exception of pagination.
AHMAD et al.: START-UP STUDIES OF GLAST-III ST IN THE PRESENCE OF PF
Muhammad Athar Naveed received the M.Sc.
degree in physics from Government College Univer-
sity, Lahore, Pakistan, in 1990, and the Ph.D. degree
in plasma physics from Quaid-i-Azam University
(QAU), Islamabad, Pakistan, in 2009.
He has vast experience in the fields of laser
and plasma applications. He is currently with
the National Tokamak Fusion Program (NTFP),
Islamabad, for the development of magnetic diag-
nostics and DAQ systems for tokamaks.
Riaz Khan received the Ph.D. degree from
The Graduate University for Advanced Studies,
Sokendai, Japan, in 2006.
He performed his research work in the National
Institute of Fusion Science (NIFS), Toki, Japan, from
2003 to 2006, in the area of nonlinear simulation
of plasma instabilities in tokamak, which includes
the formation of filamentary structure during ELMs’
activities, nonlinear dynamics of ballooning modes,
and effects of finite Larmor radius on the stability of
Type I ELMs. Since 2006, he has been conducting
research in the area of tokamak design, non-linear plasma dynamics, wave
heating especially in ECRH and LHCD, pre-ionization source development,
and blanket and divertor design studies. He is currently the Head of the
Tokamak Design and Auxiliary Heating Group and also an Adjunct Faculty
Member with the Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Science,
Islamabad, Pakistan. His research interests include the development of
microwave sources for GLAST and MT-1 tokamak.
Rafaqat Ali was born in Thakra Mahay, Sialkot.
He received the M.Sc. degree in physics and the
M.Phil. degree in laser physics from Quaid-i-Azam
University (QAU), Islamabad, Pakistan, in 1986 and
1990, respectively.
Afterward, he is involved in laser and plasma
physics research activities. He is currently the Head
of the Mechanical and Vacuum Group, National
Tokamak Fusion Program, Islamabad. He has more
than eight publications in the journals of interna-
tional repute. His current research interests include
tokamak start-up, tokamak engineering, vacuum vessel design and fabrication,
in-vessel components, and wall conditioning.
9
Muhammad Aqib Javed received the bachelor’s
degree from the University of Engineering and Tech-
nology at Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan, and the master’s
degree from the National University of Sciences and
Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan, in 2011 and 2018,
respectively, all in electrical engineering.
He is currently a Senior Engineer with the National
Tokamak Fusion Program, Islamabad. His research
interests include data acquisition and control sys-
tems, adaptive signal processing, and convex opti-
mization.
N. Ahmed received the B.S. degree in electri-
cal engineering from the Islamia University of
Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, Pakistan, in 2012.
He is currently a Senior Engineer in electrical
engineering with the National Tokamak Fusion Pro-
gram, Islamabad, Pakistan, where he is also a mem-
ber of the Power Supply and Control System Group.
He has developed manual and computerized variable
dc power supplies and timing devices for charg-
ing and temporal discharging of tokamak capacitor
banks using thyristors as controlled ON converters.
He also develops high-voltage digital voltmeters and peripheral low-voltage
analog electronic cards for various control applications and diagnostics setups.
S. Hussain was born in Punjab, Pakistan, in July
1963. He received the Ph.D. degree in physics
from Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan,
in 2007, in the field of laser spectroscopy.
He was a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the area of fast
ignition approach to ICF by X-ray spectroscopic
techniques with the University of Milano-Bicocca,
Milan, Italy, in 2011. He has been the Deputy Chief
Scientist and the Project Director of the National
Tokamak Fusion Program, Islamabad, since 2013.
He has vast experience of working in the areas of
lasers and plasma diagnostics. He has 29 research publications with impact
factor over 50 along with 333 citations.
Dr. Hussain received the Best Research Paper Award from the High
Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC), in 2009, under the scheme of
the HEC Outstanding Research Award 2005–2006.