Estimation of ISTTOK runaway - electrons energies by means of a Cherenkov - type probe with modified AlN radiators

Measurements of fast electrons, as performed during recent few years in small tokamaks, demonstrated that detectors based on the Cherenkov effect are very useful tools for such studies. The modernized measuring heads, which were equipped with miniature aluminum-nitride (AlN) radiators, enabled to determine locations and instants of the fast electrons emission and to estimate their energy. A comparison of four measuring channels showed that in ISTTOK the most important role was played by electrons of energy less than 90 keV.