E. E. Mukhin

Progress in the development of deposition prevention and cleaning techniques of in-vessel optics in ITER

The lifetime of front optical components unprotected from reactor grade plasmas may be very short due to intensive contamination with carbon and beryllium-based materials eroded by the plasma from beryllium walls and carbon tiles. Deposits result in a significant reduction and spectral alterations of optical transmission. In addition, even rather thin and transparent deposits can dramatically change the shape of reflectance spectra, especially for mirrors with rather low reflectivity, such as W or Mo. The distortion of data obtained with various optical diagnostics may affect the safe operation of ITER. Therefore, the development of optics-cleaning and deposition-mitigating techniques is a key factor in the construction and operation of optical diagnostics in ITER. The problem is of particular concern for optical elements positioned in the divertor region. The latest achievements in protection of in-vessel optics are presented using the example of deposition prevention/cleaning techniques for in-machine components of the Thomson scattering system in the divertor. Careful consideration of well-known and novel protection approaches shows that neither of them alone provides guaranteed survivability of the first in-vessel optics in the divertor. Only a set of complementary prevention/cleaning techniques, which include special materials for mirrors and inhibition additives for plasma, is able to manage the challenging task. The essential issue, which needs to be addressed in the immediate future, is an extensive development of techniques tested under experimental conditions (exposure time and contamination fluxes) similar to those expected in ITER.

First mirrors in ITER: material choice and deposition prevention/cleaning techniques

We present here our recent results on the development and testing of the first mirrors for the divertor Thomson scattering diagnostics in ITER. The Thomson scattering system is based on several large-scale (tens of centimetres) mirrors that will be located in an area with extremely high (3?10%) concentration of contaminants (mainly hydrocarbons) and our main concern is to prevent deposition-induced loss of mirror reflectivity in the spectral range 1000?1064?nm. The suggested design of the mirrors?a high-reflective metal layer on a Si substrate with an oxide coating?combines highly stable optical characteristics under deposition-dominated conditions with excellent mechanical properties. For the mirror layer materials we consider Ag and Al allowing the possibility of sharing the Thomson scattering mirror collecting system with a laser-induced fluorescence system operating in the visible range. Neutron tests of the mirrors of this design are presented along with numerical simulation of radiation damage and transmutation of mirror materials. To provide active protection of the large-scale mirrors we use a number of deposition-mitigating techniques simultaneously. Two main techniques among them, plasma treatment and blowing-out, are considered in detail. The plasma conditions appropriate for mirror cleaning are determined from experiments using plasma-induced erosion/deposition in a CH4/H2 gas mixture. We also report data on the numerical simulation of plasma parameters of a capacitively-coupled discharge calculated using a commercial CFD-ACE code. A comparison of these data with the results for mirror testing under deuterium ion bombardment illustrates the possibility of using the capacitively-coupled discharge for in situ non-destructive deposition mitigation/cleaning.

Physical aspects of divertor Thomson scattering implementation on ITER

This paper describes the challenges of Thomson Scattering implementation in the ITER divertor and evaluates the capability to satisfy project requirements related to the range of the measured electron temperature and density. A number of aspects of data interpretation are also discussed. Although this assessment and the proposed solutions are considered in terms of ITER compatibility, they may also be of some use in currently operating magnetic confinement devices.

The ITER divertor Thomson scattering system: engineering and advanced hardware solutions

A divertor Thomson scattering (TS) system being developed for ITER has incorporated proven solutions from currently available TS systems. On the other hand any ITER diagnostic has to operate in a hostile environment and very restricted access geometry. Therefore the operation in an environment of intensive stray light, plasma background radiation, the necessity meet the requirement using only a 20 mm gap between divertor cassettes for plasma diagnosis as well as to measure plasma temperatures as low as 1 eV severely constrain the divertor TS diagnostic design. The challenging solutions of this novel diagnostic system which has to ensure its steady performance and also the operability and maintenance are the focus of this report. One of the most demanding parts of the in-vessel diagnostic equipment development is the design assessment using different engineering analyses. The task definition and first results of thermal, e/m and seismic analyses are provided. The process of further improving of the design involves identification of susceptible areas and multiple iterations of the design, as needed. One of the key points for all Thomson scattering diagnostics are the laser capabilities. A high-performance and high-power laser system using a steady-state and high-repetitive mode Nd:YAG laser (2J, 50–100Hz, 3ns) has been developed. The reduced laser pulse duration matched with high-speed low-noise APD detector can be very important under high background light level. For diagnostics such as Thomson scattering and Raman spectroscopy, a high-degree of discrimination against stray light at the laser wavelength is required for successful detection of wavelength-shifted light from the laser-plasma interaction region. For this case of high stray light level, a triple grating polychromator characterized by high rejection and high transmission has been designed and developed. The novel polychromator design minimizes stray light while still maintaining a relatively high transmission.

Detecting Dust on Plasma-Facing Components in a Next-Step Tokamak Using a Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Technique

Abstract A technique based on laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy is proposed for detecting in situ dust on the plasma-exposed surfaces and in the grooves of plasma-facing components in the next generation of fusion devices (e.g., ITER). It is based on laser-induced ablation of wall material and spectral analysis of the laser spark flash-light collected by imaging optics and transmitted to the detection system. This could give space- and time-resolved information on the presence of dust or loosely bound films, their characteristic deposition patterns, elemental composition, and possibly their hydrogen content, without the necessity of breaking the machine vacuum. We have performed some simple proof-of-principle experiments to demonstrate the suitability of this technique, which might provide an effective nonintrusive in situ surface analysis method for surveying in-vessel dust accumulation in future fusion devices. The preliminary results are discussed, and some of the inherent advantages and difficulties of this method are highlighted. The usefulness of this technique to provide reliable information on the quantity of dust at the probed location still depends on the resolution of several aspects, which are the subject of ongoing experimental investigation. Areas of further research and development are identified, and some of the design issues to integrate this system in a next-step fusion device such as ITER are briefly discussed.

Investigation of beam– and wave–plasma interactions in spherical tokamak Globus-M

The experimental and theoretical results obtained in the last two years on the interaction of neutral particle beams and high-frequency waves with a plasma using the spherical tokamak Globus-M are discussed. The experiments on the injection of low-energy proton beam of ~300 eV directed particle energy are performed with a plasma gun that produces a hydrogen plasma jet of density up to 3 × 1022 m−3 and a high velocity up to 250 km s−1. A moderate density rise (up to 30%) is achieved in the central plasma region without plasma disruption. Experiments on high-energy (up to 30 keV) neutral beam injection into the D-plasma are analysed. Modelling results on confinement of fast particles inside the plasma column that follows the neutral beam injection are discussed. The influence of the magnetic field on the fast particle losses is argued. A neutral beam injection regime with primary ion heating is obtained and discussed. The new regime with fast current ramp-up and early neutral beam injection shows electron temperature rise and formation of broad Te profiles until the q = 1 flux surface enters the plasma column. An energetic particle mode in the range of frequencies 5–30 kHz and toroidal Alfven eigenmodes in the range 50–300 kHz are recorded in that regime simultaneously with the Te rise. The energetic particle mode and toroidal Alfven eigenmodes behaviour are discussed. The toroidal Alfven eigenmode spectrum appears in Globus-M as a narrow band corresponding to n = 1. The first experimental results on plasma start-up and noninductive current drive generation are presented. The experiments are carried out with antennae providing mostly poloidal slowing down of waves with a frequency of 920 MHz, which is higher than a lower hybrid one existing under the experimental conditions. The high current drive efficiency is shown to be high (of about 0.25 A W−1), and its mechanism is proposed. Some near future plans of the experiments are also discussed.

Thomson scattering diagnostic systems in ITER

Thomson scattering (TS) is a proven diagnostic technique that will be implemented in ITER in three independent systems. The Edge TS will measure electron temperature Te and electron density ne profiles at high resolution in the region with r/a>0.8 (with a the minor radius). The Core TS will cover the region r/a<0.85 and shall be able to measure electron temperatures up to 40 keV . The Divertor TS will observe a segment of the divertor plasma more than 700 mm long and is designed to detect Te as low as 0.3 eV . The Edge and Core systems are primary contributors to Te and ne profiles. Both are installed in equatorial port 10 and very close together with the toroidal distance between the two laser beams of less than 600 mm at the first wall (~ 6° toroidal separation), a characteristic that should allow to reliably match the two profiles in the region 0.8<r/a<0.85. Today almost every existing fusion machine has one or more TS systems installed, therefore substantial experience has been accumulated worldwide on practical methods for the optimization of the technique. However the ITER environment is imposing specific loads (e.g. gamma and neutron radiation, temperatures, disruption-induced stresses) and also access and reliability constraints that require new designs for many of the sub-systems. The challenges and the proposed solutions for all three TS systems are presented.

Thomson scattering diagnostics for ITER divertor

The ITER design has highlighted the fundamental need to monitor the machine operation in more detail. The mission of the Thomson scattering diagnostics in the ITER divertor research/operation is discussed with due attention paid to challenges and capabilities of the existing diagnostic design.

Research on mirror cleaning in inductively and capacitively driven radio-frequency discharges

Bench tests are used to compare cleaning performance of inductively and capacitively driven radio-frequency (RF) discharges as a potential tool for in-situ maintenance of in-vessel diagnostic mirrors in fusion devices. The effect of erosion of hydrogenated carbon coating is studied in different processing conditions. Stainless steel (SS) mirrors have been exposed to CH4‒Ar and H2‒Ar plasmas in an RF discharge at a pressure of 10−2 Torr with an input power of 0.5 kW at 13.6 MHz. The samples, which exhibit a slow rate of chemical erosion, become essentially erosive in both inductively and capacitively driven RF discharges. The cleaning ability of a capacitively driven RF discharge is studied in dedicated experiments with SS samples retrieved from the tokamaks T-10 and Globus-M after long-term exposure to the working and wall conditioning discharges.

Near-infrared plasma spectroscopy in support of divertor Thomson scattering diagnostics development for ITER

One of the main challenges of the implementation of divertor Thomson scattering system on ITER is weak laser scattering signal to be detected against intense background plasma radiation. The paper review briefly the line and continuum radiation data from present magnetic fusion devices in the spectral range of interest to TS diagnostics. The results will form the basis of design and development of the TS diagnostics for the ITER divertor.