A. Pimazzoni

Ion beam transport: modelling and experimental measurements on a large negative ion source in view of the ITER heating neutral beam

Neutral beam injectors are among the most important methods of plasma heating in magnetic confinement fusion devices. The propagation of the negative ions, prior to their conversion into neutrals, is of fundamental importance in determining the properties of the beam, such as its aiming and focusing at long-distances, so as to deposit the beam power in the proper position inside the confined plasma, as well as to avoid interaction with the material surfaces along the beam path. The final design of the ITER Heating Neutral Beam prototype has been completed at Consorzio RFX (Padova, Italy), in the framework of a close collaboration with European, Japanese and Indian fusion research institutes. The physical and technical rationales on which the design is based were essentially driven by numerical modelling of the relevant physical processes, and the same models and codes will be useful to design the DEMO neutral beam injector in the near future. This contribution presents a benchmark study of the codes used for this purpose, by comparing their results against the measures performed in an existing large-power device, hosted at the National Institute for Fusion Science, Japan. In particular, the negative ion formation and acceleration are investigated. A satisfactory agreement was found between codes and experiments, leading to an improved understanding of beam transport dynamics. The interpretation of the discrepancies identified in previous works, possibly related to the non-uniformity of the extracted negative ion current, is also presented.

Status of the ELISE Test Facility

The test facility ELISE, equipped with a large radio frequency (RF) driven ion source (1×0.9 m2) of half the size of the ion source for the ITER neutral beam injection (NBI) system, is operational since beginning of 2013. The first experimental campaign was dedicated to a thorough qualification of the test facility and its diagnostic tools at low RF power (80 kW in total, i.e. 20 kW per driver) in volume operation, i.e. operation without cesium, where the negative hydrogen ion production is done in the plasma volume only. This paper reports on the main results of the second and third experimental campaigns, where Cs was inserted in the ion source for an enhancement of the negative ion production by the surface process. The second experimental campaign was done still with low RF power, both for hydrogen and deuterium, with pulse lengths of up to 500 s. The results of this campaign are rather encouraging, especially in hydrogen, where large current densities with respect to the low RF power could be achieve...

Advanced Ion Beam Calorimetry for the Test Facility ELISE

The negative ion source test facility ELISE (Extraction from a Large Ion Source Experiment) is in operation since beginning of 2013 at the Max-Planck-Institut fur Plasmaphysik (IPP) in Garching bei Munchen. The large radio frequency driven ion source of ELISE is about 1×1 m2 in size (1/2 the ITER source) and can produce a plasma for up to 1 h. Negative ions can be extracted and accelerated by an ITER-like extraction system made of 3 grids with an area of 0.1 m2, for 10 s every 3 minutes. A total accelerating voltage of up to 60 kV is available, i.e. a maximum ion beam power of about 1.2 MW can be produced. ELISE is equipped with several beam diagnostic tools for the evaluation of the beam characteristics. In order to evaluate the beam properties with a high level of detail, a sophisticated diagnostic calorimeter has been installed in the test facility at the end of 2013, starting operation in January 2014. The diagnostic calorimeter is split into 4 copper plates with separate water calorimetry for each of...

Improvements of the versatile multiaperture negative ion source NIO1

The ion source NIO1 (Negative Ion Optimization 1) was developed and installed as a reduced-size model of multi-aperture sources used in neutral beam injectors. NIO1 beam optics is optimized for a 135 mA H− current (subdivided in 9 beamlets) at a Vs = 60 kV extraction voltage, with an electron-to-ion current ratio Rj up to 2. Depending on gas pressure used, NIO1 was up to now operated with Vs < 25 kV for beam extraction and Vs = 60 kV for insulation tests. The distinction between capacitively coupled plasma (E-mode, consistent with a low electron density plasma ne) and inductively coupled plasma (H-mode, requiring larger ne) was clearly related to several experimental signatures, and was confirmed for several gases, when applied radiofrequency power exceeds a given threshold Pt (with hysteresis). For hydrogen Pt was reduced below 1 kW, with a clean rf window and molybdenum liners on other walls; for oxygen Pt ≤ 400 W. Beams of H− and O− were separately extracted; since no caesium is yet introduced into the...

Progress on development of SPIDER diagnostics

SPIDER experiment, the full size prototype of the beam source for the ITER heating neutral beam injector, has to demonstrate extraction and acceleration to 100 kV of a large negative ion hydrogen or deuterium beam with co-extracted electron fraction e−/D− <1 and beam uniformity within 10%, for up to one hour beam pulses. Main RF source plasma and beam parameters are measured with different complementary techniques to exploit the combination of their specific features. While SPIDER plant systems are being installed, the different diagnostic systems are in the procurement phase. Their final design is described here with a focus on some key solutions and most original and cost effective implementations. Thermocouples used to measure the power load distribution in the source and over the beam dump front surface will be efficiently fixed with proven technique and acquired through commercial and custom electronics. Spectroscopy needs to use well collimated lines of sight and will employ novel design spectrometers with higher efficiency and resolution and filtered detectors with custom built amplifiers. The electrostatic probes will be operated through electronics specifically developed to cope with the challenging environment of the RF source. The instrumented calorimeter STRIKE will use new CFC tiles, still under development. Two linear cameras, one built in house, have been tested as suitable for optical beam tomography. Some diagnostic components are off the shelf, others are custom developed: some of these are being prototyped or are under test before final production and installation, which will be completed before start of SPIDER operation.SPIDER experiment, the full size prototype of the beam source for the ITER heating neutral beam injector, has to demonstrate extraction and acceleration to 100 kV of a large negative ion hydrogen or deuterium beam with co-extracted electron fraction e−/D− <1 and beam uniformity within 10%, for up to one hour beam pulses. Main RF source plasma and beam parameters are measured with different complementary techniques to exploit the combination of their specific features. While SPIDER plant systems are being installed, the different diagnostic systems are in the procurement phase. Their final design is described here with a focus on some key solutions and most original and cost effective implementations. Thermocouples used to measure the power load distribution in the source and over the beam dump front surface will be efficiently fixed with proven technique and acquired through commercial and custom electronics. Spectroscopy needs to use well collimated lines of sight and will employ novel design spectromete...

A suite of diagnostics to validate and optimize the prototype ITER neutral beam injector

The ITER project requires additional heating provided by two neutral beam injectors using 40 A negative deuterium ions accelerated at 1 MV. As the beam requirements have never been experimentally met, a test facility is under construction at Consorzio RFX, which hosts two experiments: SPIDER, full-size 100 kV ion source prototype, and MITICA, 1 MeV full-size ITER injector prototype. Since diagnostics in ITER injectors will be mainly limited to thermocouples, due to neutron and gamma radiation and to limited access, it is crucial to thoroughly investigate and characterize in more accessible experiments the key parameters of source plasma and beam, using several complementary diagnostics assisted by modelling. In SPIDER and MITICA the ion source parameters will be measured by optical emission spectroscopy, electrostatic probes, cavity ring down spectroscopy for H^− density and laser absorption spectroscopy for cesium density. Measurements over multiple lines-of-sight will provide the spatial distribution of the parameters over the source extension. The beam profile uniformity and its divergence are studied with beam emission spectroscopy, complemented by visible tomography and neutron imaging, which are novel techniques, while an instrumented calorimeter based on custom unidirectional carbon fiber composite tiles observed by infrared cameras will measure the beam footprint on short pulses with the highest spatial resolution. All heated components will be monitored with thermocouples: as these will likely be the only measurements available in ITER injectors, their capabilities will be investigated by comparison with other techniques. SPIDER and MITICA diagnostics are described in the present paper with a focus on their rationale, key solutions and most original and effective implementations.

Castellated tiles as the beam-facing components for the diagnostic calorimeter of the negative ion source SPIDER

This paper presents the results of numerical simulations and experimental tests carried out to assess the feasibility and suitability of graphite castellated tiles as beam-facing component in the diagnostic calorimeter of the negative ion source SPIDER (Source for Production of Ions of Deuterium Extracted from Radio frequency plasma). The results indicate that this concept could be a reliable, although less performing, alternative for the present design based on carbon fiber composite tiles, as it provides thermal measurements on the required spatial scale.