Measurements of the intercombination and forbidden lines from the spectra of helium-like ions in tokamaks and electron beam ion traps

The paper reviews the results from tokamak experiments and measurements on electron beam ion traps for the line ratios x/w, y/w, and z/w in the spectra of helium-like ions with Z in the range from 14 to 28. With the exception of the DITE experiments, where these line ratios were found to be in agreement with theoretical predictions, all other tokamak experiments yielded values that were significantly greater than predicted. The reasons for these discrepancies are not yet understood. It is possible that radial profile effects were not properly taken into account in the majority of the tokamak experiments. The paper also gives a short historical review of the X-ray diagnostic developments and presents very recent data from a new type of X-ray imaging crystal spectrometer, which records spatially resolved spectra with a spatial resolution of about 1 cm in the plasma. These new data can be Abel inverted, so that it will be possible to determine line ratios at each radial position in the plasma. Effects of rad...