Instrumentation for nuclear fusion

To characterize a fusion plasma in an adequate way and to understand its complex behavior as complete as possible, a large number of different plasma parameters must be determined simultaneously. Most of them are local quantities varying with the radial coordinate and in time. The spatial resolution aimed at is 1-5 cm and the required time resolution varies from µs to ms depending on the measured quantity. The demanded accuracy of all the measuring systems is typically 1-10%. The major challenge for fusion plasma diagnostic originates from the harsh environment they are exposed to. When proceeding to future burning-plasma devices, these burdens will further increase mainly due to the strongly increased neutron fluence and energy load during the lifetime of the diagnostic. This contribution sketches basic nuclear fusion and concentrates on diagnostic areas where radiation detectors are involved, factoring out completely the wide field of electromagnetic measurements and laser-aided methods.