D. Nishijima

Observations of suppressed retention and blistering for tungsten exposed to deuterium–helium mixture plasmas

Blister formation and D retention in W have been investigated for low energy (~55 ? 15?eV), high flux (~1022?m?2?s?1), high fluence (?4.5 ? 1026?m?2) ion bombardment at moderate temperature (~573?K) in mixed species D+He plasmas in the linear divertor plasma simulator PISCES-A. The amount of D retained in W is found to decrease significantly when compared with that in W exposed to pure D plasmas, as measured with high resolution thermal desorption spectroscopy. Scanning electron microscopy observations reveal the suppression of the blisters, a surface feature known to drive up retention, in the D + He mixture plasma exposed W samples. Reduced D retention is accompanied by the formation of nano-sized high density He bubbles in the near surface, observed with a transmission electron microscope (TEM). It is believed that the nano-bubbles act as a diffusion barrier to implanted D atoms and consequently reduce the amount of uptake in the W material. This newly observed effect implies that current predictions of D retention in W, in actual fusion devices, may be overestimated, since there will be He ash in fusion plasma. Toughness enhanced, fine-grained (grain size of ~1??m) W?TiC samples, exposed to pure D plasma conditions, also show little or no evidence of blistering. The measured D retention in the W?TiC samples was approximately 1 ? 1019?D?m?2 corresponding to about 2 ? 10?7 of the implanted D fluence, and is very low compared with the retention in pure stress relieved W, which exhibited surface blisters and had a D retention of about 1 ? 1021?D?m?2.

Observation of turbulent-driven shear flow in a cylindrical laboratory plasma device

A turbulent-generated azimuthally symmetric radially sheared plasma fluid flow is observed in a cylindrical magnetized helicon plasma device with no external sources of momentum input. A turbulent momentum conservation analysis shows that this shear flow is sustained against dissipation by the turbulent Reynolds stress generated by collisional drift fluctuations in the device. In the wavenumber domain this process is manifested via a nonlinear transfer of energy from small scales to larger scales. Simulations of collisional drift turbulence in this device have also been carried out and clearly show the formation of a shear flow quantitatively similar to that observed experimentally. The results integrate experiment and first-principle simulations and validate the basic theoretical picture of drift-wave/shear flow interactions.

Effect of He on D retention in W exposed to low-energy, high-fluence (D, He, Ar) mixture plasmas

W targets are exposed at fixed temperature in the range ~420–1100 K, to either pure D2, D2–δHe (0.1 < δ < 0.25), or D2–δHe–γAr (γ = 0.03) mixture plasma, or He pretreatment plasma followed by exposure to D2 plasma. A strong reduction in D retention is found for exposure temperature above 450 K and incident He-ion fluence exceeding ~1024 m−2. Reduced D retention values lie well below that measured on D2 plasma-exposed reference targets, and the scatter in retention values reported in the literature. A small level of Ar admixture to D2–0.1He plasma, leading to an Ar ion density fraction of ~3%, is found to have minimal effect on the D inventory reduction caused by He. In targets with reduced inventory, nuclear-reaction analysis reveals shallow D trapping (<50 nm), in the same locale as nanometre-sized bubbles observed using transmission electron microscopy. It is suggested that near-surface bubbles grow and interconnect, forming pathways leading back to the plasma–material interaction surface, thereby interrupting transport to the bulk and reducing D retention.

Codeposition of deuterium with ITER materials

The levels of retention in codeposited layers of each of the three ITER materials (C, Be and W) are compared. Scaling laws, based on the conditions during the codeposition process (surface temperature, incident particle energy and ratio of the depositing fluxes), are presented to allow prediction of expected retention under ITER conditions. Retention in carbon codeposits scales inversely with incident particle energy, whereas in the metallic codeposits the retention level scales proportionally to increasing particle energy. The differing scaling of retention with incident particle energy provides insights into which material may impact the global retention in ITER depending on where it may form codeposits. In addition to the amount of retention, the release behaviour of tritium from codeposits will influence the tritium accumulation rate within ITER. The thermal release behaviour of T (or D) from codeposits can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of baking at different temperatures as a means of tritium removal. Finally, the desorption kinetics from Be and W codeposits are contrasted. In the case of W codeposits, the duration of the baking cycle is important in determining the removal efficiency, whereas with Be codeposited layers, the maximum achievable bake temperature plays the leading role in determining removal efficiency.

An empirical scaling for deuterium retention in co-deposited beryllium layers

Different mechanisms contribute to tritium retention in ITER, amongst which co-deposition with materials from the plasma-facing components is one of the main contributors. A systematic study of the influence of the deposition conditions (substrate temperature, deposition rate, energy of the incident particles) on the deuterium retention in co-deposited beryllium layers has been carried out in PISCES-B. The mechanism by which deuterium co-deposits with beryllium appears to be a combination of co-deposition and implantation, with a decreased retention for increased deposition rate and an increased retention for increased incident deuterium particle energy. A scaling equation is developed, providing a method to predict the retention in Be co-deposits formed in PISCES-B as a function of the layer formation conditions. Using this equation, previously published data on retention in Be co-deposits are re-examined and relatively good agreement is found with the prediction of the scaling equation.

Spectroscopic determination of the singly ionized helium density in low electron temperature plasmas mixed with helium in a linear divertor plasma simulator

The spectroscopic method is developed to obtain the He+ ion density nHe+ in low electron temperature, Te=5–20eV, plasmas mixed with He. Plasmas were produced in the PISCES-B linear divertor plasma simulator [R. P. Doerner et al., Phys. Scr. T111, 75 (2004)] where the electron densities are ne=(1−15)×1018m−3 and the ionization degree is ∼1–10%. In the method, the He I line intensity IHeI at λ=447.1nm is used, instead of the He II line intensity in the conventional method. The radial confinement time of He+ ions is requisite, and is measured to be at a level of the Bohm confinement time. The He+ ion concentration, nHe+∕ne, is found to be proportional to IHeI, and to weakly depend on ne and Te. Because of the higher ionization energy of He than other species (D2, Ne, and Ar), the measured nHe+∕ne becomes systematically lower than the He gas pressure fraction, and agrees with data from an omegatron mass spectrometer. The omegatron measurement and estimates of the He+ ion loss rates indicate that the influence...

Effects of Steady-State Plasma Exposure on Tungsten Surface Cracking due to Elm-Like Pulsed Plasma Bombardment

Abstract Sequential exposures of W surfaces to steady-state and pulsed (∼0.5 ms) plasmas have been performed in a linear divertor plasma simulator and a magnetized coaxial plasma gun to investigate effects of D blisters, nano-sized He bubbles, and He-induced W fuzz on surface cracking by pulsed plasma loads. Surface cracks appeared on samples containing D blisters or He bubbles following 10 shots at ∼0.5 MJ/m2 per shot, while a mirror-polished sample with no pre-plasma exposure did not exhibit cracks after similar transient exposures. Note that the cracking is limited to the edge region for a sample with D blisters. This means that the energy density threshold for surface cracking is lowered by the existence of D blisters and, especially, He bubbles. On the other hand, it is found that fuzzy surfaces possess a good resistance to surface cracking, although arcing is prone to occur.

Properties of BeD molecules in edge plasma relevant conditions

The A 2Π–X 2Σ+ band (the Δv = 0 sequence) emission of beryllium deuteride (BeD) molecules has been observed both in Be-seeded deuterium plasma and in front of Be targets exposed to deuterium plasma. The particle interchange reaction, Be+ + D2 → BeD + D+, is thought to be a dominant process for the BeD formation in the plasma. On the other hand, BeD observed in front of Be targets is a product of chemical sputtering of Be bombarded by deuterium plasma. The photon emission coefficient of the A–X band at λ ~ 497.3–499.2 nm around the prominent Q branch is estimated to be ~5 × 10−14 m3 s−1 for electron temperatures 8 eV as deduced from particle balance between Be, Be+, and BeD in D2 neutral pressure scans. The surface temperature dependence of chemical sputtering of Be released as BeD is investigated, and the sputtering yield of BeD is found to peak at ~440 K. This peak temperature is consistent with the onset temperature of the decomposition of BeD2, obtained from thermal desorption spectrometry of BeD2 powder. Also, the chemical sputtering yield is observed to be decreased with increasing incident ion flux, similar to carbon. Vibrational (Tvib) and rotational (Trot) temperatures of BeD molecules are evaluated by fitting a measured A–X band spectrum with a simulated spectrum. Spectra taken from BeD formed in the plasma are well fitted with a single pair of Tvib and Trot, which increase linearly with electron density. However, the vibrational and rotational energy of sputtered BeD is found not to be consistent with a Boltzmann distribution.

Determination of the optical escape factor in the He I line intensity ratio technique applied for weakly ionized plasmas

Radiation trapping of the He I UV resonance transition (λ = 53.7 nm) has been experimentally confirmed in weakly ionized (ionization degree of ~1–10%)helium plasmas in the PISCES-A linear divertor plasma simulator by using visible line emission with the same upper state as the UV transition. To study the effect of UV opacity on visible line ratios, the radiation trapping of UV resonance transitions was included in a He I collisional–radiative code with the optical escape factor method. The modified code is used to derive electron density ne and temperature Te with the standard He I line intensity ratios, 667.8 nm/728.1 nm and 728.1 nm/706.5 nm. The predicted values of ne and Te are compared with Langmuir probe measurements. Best agreement (within ±30%) is obtained when including radiation trapping and the correct (measured) neutral temperature and using the vacuum chamber radius (as opposed to the smaller plasma radius) for the characteristic length of the system. Neglecting radiation trapping entirely is found to give errors as large as 10 × (3 ×) in the predicted values of ne (Te).

Interaction of beryllium containing plasma with ITER materials

Beryllium-seeded deuterium plasma is used in PISCES-B to investigate mixed-material erosion and redeposition properties of ITER relevant divertor materials. The beryllium containing plasma simulates the erosion of first wall material into the ITER sol plasma and its subsequent flow towards the carbon divertor plates. The experiments are designed to quantify the behaviour of plasma created mixed Be/C and Be/W surfaces. Developing an understanding of the mixed material surface behaviour is crucial to accurately predict the tritium accumulation rate within the ITER vacuum vessel. The temporal evolution of the plasma interactions with the various mixed surfaces are examined to better understand the fundamental mechanisms in play at the surface and to allow scaling of these results to the conditions expected in the ITER divertor. A new periodic heat pulse deposition system is also installed on PISCES-B to simulate the transient temperature excursions of surfaces expected to occur in the ITER divertor during edge localized modes (ELMs) and other off-normal events. These periodically applied heat pulses allow us to study the effects of transient power loading on the formation, stability and tritium content of mixed-material surfaces that are created during the experiments.