Per Petersson

Development of laser-based techniques for in situ characterization of the first wall in ITER and future fusion devices

Analysis and understanding of wall erosion, material transport and fuel retention are among the most important tasks for ITER and future devices, since these questions determine largely the lifetime and availability of the fusion reactor. These data are also of extreme value to improve the understanding and validate the models of the in vessel build-up of the T inventory in ITER and future D–T devices. So far, research in these areas is largely supported by post-mortem analysis of wall tiles. However, access to samples will be very much restricted in the next-generation devices (such as ITER, JT-60SA, W7-X, etc) with actively cooled plasma-facing components (PFC) and increasing duty cycle.This has motivated the development of methods to measure the deposition of material and retention of plasma fuel on the walls of fusion devices in situ, without removal of PFC samples. For this purpose, laser-based methods are the most promising candidates. Their feasibility has been assessed in a cooperative undertaking in various European associations under EFDA coordination. Different laser techniques have been explored both under laboratory and tokamak conditions with the emphasis to develop a conceptual design for a laser-based wall diagnostic which is integrated into an ITER port plug, aiming to characterize in situ relevant parts of the inner wall, the upper region of the inner divertor, part of the dome and the upper X-point region.

Beryllium Migration in JET ITER-like Wall Plasmas

JET is used as a test bed for ITER, to investigate beryllium migration which connects the lifetime of first-wall components under erosion with tokamak safety, in relation to long-term fuel retention. The (i) limiter and the (ii) divertor configurations have been studied in JET-ILW (JET with a Be first wall and W divertor), and compared with those for the former JET-C (JET with carbon-based plasma-facing components (PFCs)). (i) For the limiter configuration, the Be gross erosion at the contact point was determined in situ by spectroscopy as between 4% (Ein = 35 eV) and more than 100%, caused by Be self-sputtering (Ein = 200 eV). Chemically assisted physical sputtering via BeD release has been identified to contribute to the effective Be sputtering yield, i.e. at Ein = 75 eV, erosion was enhanced by about 1/3 with respect to the bare physical sputtering case. An effective gross yield of 10% is on average representative for limiter plasma conditions, whereas a factor of 2 difference between the gross erosion and net erosion, determined by post-mortem analysis, was found. The primary impurity source in the limiter configuration in JET-ILW is only 25% higher (in weight) than that for the JET-C case. The main fraction of eroded Be stays within the main chamber. (ii) For the divertor configuration, neutral Be and BeD from physically and chemically assisted physical sputtering by charge exchange neutrals and residual ion flux at the recessed wall enter the plasma, ionize and are transported by scrape-off layer flows towards the inner divertor where significant net deposition takes place. The amount of Be eroded at the first wall (21 g) and the Be amount deposited in the inner divertor (28 g) are in fair agreement, though the balancing is as yet incomplete due to the limited analysis of PFCs. The primary impurity source in the JET-ILW is a factor of 5.3 less in comparison with that for JET-C, resulting in lower divertor material deposition, by more than one order of magnitude. Within the divertor, Be performs far fewer re-erosion and transport steps than C due to an energetic threshold for Be sputtering, and inhibits as a result of this the transport to the divertor floor and the pump duct entrance. The target plates in the JET-ILW inner divertor represent at the strike line a permanent net erosion zone, in contrast to the net deposition zone in JET-C with thick carbon deposits on the CFC (carbon-fibre composite) plates. The Be migration identified is consistent with the observed low long-term fuel retention and dust production with the JET-ILW.

Long-term fuel retention in JET ITER-like wall

Post-mortem studies with ion beam analysis, thermal desorption, and secondary ion mass spectrometry have been applied for investigating the long-term fuel retention in the JET ITERlike wall components. The retention takes place via implantation and co-deposition, and the highest retention values were found to correlate with the thickness of the deposited impurity layers. From the total amount of retained D fuel over half was detected in the divertor region. The majority of the retained D is on the top surface of the inner divertor, whereas the least retention was measured in the main chamber on the mid-plane of the inner wall limiter. The recessed areas of the inner wall showed significant contribution to the main chamber total retention. Thermal desorption spectroscopy analysis revealed the energetic T from DD reactions being implanted in the divertor. The total T inventory was assessed to be >0.3 mg.

A combined segmented anode gas ionization chamber and time-of-flight detector for heavy ion elastic recoil detection analysis

A dedicated detector system for heavy ion elastic recoil detection analysis at the Tandem Laboratory of Uppsala University is presented. Benefits of combining a time-of-flight measurement with a segmented anode gas ionization chamber are demonstrated. The capability of ion species identification is improved with the present system, compared to that obtained when using a single solid state silicon detector for the full ion energy signal. The system enables separation of light elements, up to Neon, based on atomic number while signals from heavy elements such as molybdenum and tungsten are separated based on mass, to a sample depth on the order of 1 μm. The performance of the system is discussed and a selection of material analysis applications is given. Plasma-facing materials from fusion experiments, in particular metal mirrors, are used as a main example for the discussion. Marker experiments using nitrogen-15 or oxygen-18 are specific cases for which the described improved species separation and sensitivity are required. Resilience to radiation damage and significantly improved energy resolution for heavy elements at low energies are additional benefits of the gas ionization chamber over a solid state detector based system.

Deep deuterium retention and Be/W mixing at tungsten coated surfaces in the JET divertor

Surface samples from a full poloidal set of divertor tiles exposed in JET through operations 2010-2012 with ITER-like wall have been investigated using SEM, SIMS, ICP-AES analysis and micro beam nu ...

Overview of nitrogen-15 application as a tracer gas for material migration and retention studies in tokamaks

Experimental and analytical procedures related to the application of nitrogen-15 isotope for material migration studies have been developed and used for tracer experiments in the TEXTOR and ASDEX-Upgrade tokamaks in order to assess the retention of nitrogen in plasma-facing components made of graphite and tungsten. The surface study was performed by time-of-flight heavy ion elastic recoil detection analysis and by means of nuclear reaction analysis based on the N-15(p, gamma alpha)C-12 process. In both tokamaks nitrogen retention has exceeded 10% of the injected gas. In ASDEX-Upgrade the largest fraction of N-15 has been detected on protruding parts near the injection port, while around 4% has been found in the divertor. The ASDEX-Upgrade results have also been modeled. Helium trapping has been measured in deposits containing tungsten and nitrogen.

Micro-distribution of fuel and metal in carbon-based plasma-facing materials

Surfaces of carbon fibre composite tiles from the toriodal pump limiter of Tore Supra were examined with ion beams to determine simultaneously the distribution of co-deposited deuterium and metalli ...

Local migration studies of high-Z metals in the TEXTOR tokamak

Thermonuclear fusion may become an attractive future power source. The most promising of all fusion machine concepts is the tokamak. Despite decades of active research, still huge tasks remain before a fusion power plant can go online. One of these important tasks deals with the interaction between the fusion plasma and the reactor wall. This work focuses on how eroded wall materials of different origin and mass are transported in a tokamak device. Element transport can be examined by injection of certain species of unique and predetermined origin, so called tracers. Tracer experiments were conducted at the TEXTOR tokamak before its final shutdown. This offered an unique opportunity for studies of the wall and other internal components: For the first time it was possible to completely dismantle such a machine and analyse every single part of reactor wall, obtaining a detailed pattern of material migration. Main focus of this work is on the high-Z metals tungsten and molybdenum, which were introduced by WF6 and MoF6 injection into the TEXTOR tokamak in several material migration experiments. It is shown that Mo and W migrate in a similar way around the tokamak and that Mo can be used as tracer for W transport. It is further shown how other materials - medium-Z (Ni), low-Z (N-15 and F), fuel species (D) - migrate and get deposited. Finally, the outcome of dust sampling studies is discussed. It is shown that dust appearance and composition depends on origin, formation conditions and that it can originate even from remote systems like the NBI system. Furthermore, metal splashes and droplets have been found, some of them clearly indicating boiling processes.

Plasma cleaning of beryllium coated mirrors

Cleaning systems of metallic first mirrors are needed in more than 20 optical diagnostic systems from ITER to avoid reflectivity losses. Currently, plasma sputtering is considered as one of the most promising techniques to remove deposits coming from the main wall (mainly beryllium and tungsten). This work presents the results of plasma cleaning of rhodium and molybdenum mirrors exposed in JET-ILW and contaminated with typical tokamak elements (including beryllium and tungsten). Using radio frequency (13.56 MHz) argon or helium plasma, the removal of mixed layers was demonstrated and mirror reflectivity improved towards initial values. The cleaning was evaluated by performing reflectivity measurements, scanning electron microscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and ion beam analysis.

First results from the 10Be marker experiment in JET with ITER-like wall

When the ITER-like wall was installed in JET, one of the 218 Be inner wall guard limiter tiles had been enriched with Be-10 as a bulk isotopic marker. During the shutdown in 2012-2013, a set of til ...