Implementation and exploitation of new bolometer electronics at ASDEX Upgrade

Foil bolometry is a diagnostic technique used in many nuclear fusion machines, like tokamaks and stellarators, to measure the electromagnetic power radiated by thermonuclear plasmas, integrated from near infrared to soft X-rays. ASDEX Upgrade (AUG) is a mid-size tokamak owned by Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP), in Munich, which is exploited to conduct highly relevant research in the field of nuclear fusion for energy production. AUG makes use of foil bolometry. A new electronic system has been recently developed by the electronics department of IPP, to improve the time resolution and signal to noise ratio (SNR) of foil bolometers. The aim of this thesis is to characterize the new electronic system and implement a data acquisition and data processing algorithm on an FPGA with the LabVIEW software. The final goal is to implement a new system that performs real-time measurement of the plasma-radiated electromagnetic powers on foil bolometers. The new system is meant to complement an existing one which is already in operation at AUG. The new electronic system has been tested in the laboratory with artificial light sources and has been used in the latest AUG experimental campaign, from October 2024 to January 2025. The new system has been compared to the existing one, to determine whether a signal improvement was achieved.