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The effects of a transient heat load on tungsten damaged by helium plasma irradiation have been investigated using a ruby laser with long pulse duration in the divertor simulator NAGDIS-II (Takamuraet al2002Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.11A42). The pulse width of the ruby laser was ∼0.6 ms, which is close to that of the expected heat load accompanied by type-I edge localized modes (ELMs) in ITER operation. Helium holes/bubbles, which were formed in the surface region of powder metallurgy tungsten due to the exposure to the helium plasma, disappeared after the laser pulse irradiation to the tungsten surface with sufficient pulse energy. The results indicated that the transient heat loads similar to those expected by ELMs will mitigate damages such as bubbles and holes produced by helium irradiation. When a vacuum plasma sprayed tungsten coating on graphite was exposed to the helium plasma, the surface was covered with arborescent nanostructured tungsten containing many helium bubbles inside the structure. Melting traces were found on the surface after the laser pulses irradiated the surface even though the pulse energy was lower than that for melting bulk tungsten. A numerical temperature calculation of the sample suggested that the effective thermal conductivity near the surface dramatically decreased by several orders of magnitude due to the formation of nanostructured tungsten.

Recent research in scrape-off layer (SOL) and divertor physics is reviewed; new and existing data from a variety of experiments have been used to make cross-experiment comparisons with implications for further research and ITER. Studies of the region near the separatrix have addressed the relationship of profiles to turbulence as well as the scaling of the parallel power flow. Enhanced low-field side radial transport is implicated as driving parallel flows to the inboard side. The medium-n nature of edge localized modes (ELMs) has been elucidated and new measurements have determined that they carry ~10?20% of the ELM energy to the far SOL with implications for ITER limiters and the upper divertor. The predicted divertor power loads for ITER disruptions are reduced while those to main chamber plasma facing components (PFCs) increase. Disruption mitigation through massive gas puffing is successful at reducing PFC heat loads. New estimates of ITER tritium retention have shown tile sides to play a significant role; tritium cleanup may be necessary every few days to weeks. ITER's use of mixed materials gives rise to a reduction of surface melting temperatures and chemical sputtering. Advances in modelling of the ITER divertor and flows have enhanced the capability to match experimental data and predict ITER performance.

An integrated view of disruption dynamics on internal plasma and associated electromagnetic structures with a high time resolution is presented in a systematic way. The main results are as follows: (i) observation of electron temperature oscillation due to rotation of magnetic islands of m(poloidal)/n(toroidal) = 3/2 mode numbers before the current quench, (ii) finding of rapid pump-out (~20 µs) of plasma current and particles from the central core region to the edge just at the current quench start time and then returning to a peaked profile during the following slow decay phase and (iii) a new proposal for the evaluation of current quench time and the electron temperature dependence of the current quench time, the so-called τ/S scaling.

The edge plasma turbulence in the T-10 tokamak, the HYBTOK-II tokamak, the linear machine NAGDIS-II and the Large Helical Device have been studied. The fluctuations in the plasma density have been analysed in terms of the multifractal formalism revisited with wavelets.In most of the cases considered, the edge density fluctuations demonstrate multifractal statistics, i.e. the scaling behaviour of the absolute moments is described by a convex function with non-trivial self-similarity properties. The multifractality factor defined in the multiplicative cascade model is a relevant parameter for characterizing the edge plasma turbulence. The multiplicative cascade process has a 'coarse' time scale T ~ 50?200?ms iterating towards finer scales. This time scale is referred to as an integral correlation scale. The self-similarity parameters have been observed to depend on the edge plasma condition. The correlation and transport properties have been analysed regarding the multifractality parameter. The diffusion transport coefficient in an edge plasma is not a trivial function of multifractality parameters.

An experiment with rotating helical magnetic fields (RHMF) in the HYBTOK-II tokamak is reported. The effect of the RHMF rotation with a frequency of 5 kHz on the poloidal rotation of plasma density perturbation was studied by a movable multi-pin Langmuir probe. The wavelet technique has been used to study the poloidal rotation of the bursts. During the RHMF operation the poloidal direction of the plasma density perturbation rotation coincides with the direction of the RHMF rotation. The effect of the RHMF is found to be essential up to minor radius r = 6 cm.

Low-energy deuterium (D) plasma exposure on tungsten (W), which is an important material for ITER, results in blister formation on the surface. Blister formation increases both micron-sized dust production and D retention. Blister formation depends greatly on surface pre-treatment. Deuterium plasma exposure on mirror-finished powder metallurgy W at 500 K for 3 h forms a blister with a diameter of a few hundred micrometres on the surface. Blister formations on the mechanically-polished and helium-pre-exposed surfaces are drastically suppressed. Deuterium retention is also reduced on both the mechanically-polished surface and the helium-pre-exposed surface compared with that on the mirror-finished surface. The suppressive effect of blister formation on the mechanically-polished surface is maintained for 50 h. The size of blisters and D retention on mirror-finished surface exposed for 50 h increases by some degrees (500 µm, 7 × 1020 m−2) compared with that on mirror-finished surface exposed for 3 h (200 µm, 5 × 1020 m−2), but is not proportional to the exposure time. The saturation level of D retention even on blister-rich surfaces seems to be lower than an order of 1021 D2 m−2.

Fractal structure of the edge turbulence and enhanced turbulent transport have been studied in the tokamak HYBTOK-II with a variation of the rotating helical magnetic field (RHF) frequency in the range 5–30 kHz. Edge fluctuations have non-Gaussian statistics caused by intermittent bursts with a time scale of 40–100 µs. The variation in the RHF frequency has a selective effect on the fractal structure of edge turbulence and the turbulent flux, demonstrating a selective control of the transport process. A delayed synchronization control of resonant drift wave modes by the RHF is considered as a candidate mechanism to explain the dependence of the effect on the RHF frequency.

Direct observations of tokamak plasma responses to an externally applied rotating helical magnetic perturbation (RHMP) have been performed on the small tokamak device HYBTOK-II in order to clarify the penetration process of the RHMP into tokamak plasmas. Not only electromagnetic but also electrostatic fluctuations have been measured with small magnetic probes and a four-pin Langmuir probe, which were inserted inside the plasma. As regards the observed radial profiles of the RHMP in the plasma, the low Doppler-shifted frequency of RHMP produces the amplification of RHMP in the plasma due to magnetic island formation, while the expected attenuation of RHMP in the plasma has been found in the case of the high Doppler-shifted frequency. It is also found that the observed radial electric fields with the four-pin Langmuir probe have strong dependences on the driving frequency of the RHMP and the toroidal magnetic field. A theoretical calculation of the Alfven wave propagation driven by local helical coils in HYBTOK-II has also been carried out. The observed electric fields are discussed in terms of the Alfven resonance and the growth of magnetic islands.

Penetration processes of rotating helical magnetic perturbation (RHMP) into tokamak plasmas have been studied on a small tokamak device HYBTOK-II for dynamic ergodic divertor experiment preparing in TEXTOR. The radial profiles of RHMP in the plasma have been measured by inserting small magnetic probes into the plasma. The penetration of RHMP has been discussed by using the observed radial profile of RHMP in the plasma based on the growth of magnetic islands (i.e. tearing mode). In the case of the low Doppler-shifted frequency observed from the plasma, the amplification of RHMP in the plasma due to a spatial modification of plasma current has been found. A large Doppler-shifted frequency produces an expected attenuation of RHMP near the magnetic resonance surface due to screening current flow. A decrease of the amplification of RHMP originated from the suppression of the growth of magnetic islands due to a rapid spatial scan of magnetic resonance layer has been found by plasma current oscillation.

Microwrinkle structures with a pitch of less than 100 nm and up to 600 nm on refractory metals like tungsten (W) and molybdenum, which are irradiated by noble gas ions such as neon and helium, have been studied systematically. The wrinkle formation mechanism is thought to be a buckling of the hard surface layer supported by the soft elastic substrate, which is induced by a penetration of noble gas species from the irradiated surface. Microwrinkle forms on this structure under lateral compressive strain/stress fields coming from thermal constriction on the way to substrate cooling. Such a process should be anticipated when walls in a fusion reactor are attacked by heat pulses such as edge localized modes and/or vertical displacement events, and therefore might be an initial stage of W surface damage.

A comprehensive investigation has been performed of the static and dynamic behaviour of detached recombining plasmas in the linear divertor plasma simulator NAGDIS-II. For stationary plasma detachment, the transition from electron-ion recombination (EIR) to molecular activated recombination (MAR) has been observed by injecting hydrogen gas into high density helium plasmas. The particle loss rate due to MAR is found to be comparable to that of EIR. Experiments have also been performed by the injection of a plasma heat pulse produced by RF heating into the detached helium plasma to demonstrate the dynamic behaviour of volumetric plasma recombination. Negative spikes in the Balmer series line emission were observed and found to be similar to the so called negative ELM observed in tokamak divertors. Observed Balmer spectra were analysed in detail using the collisional-radiative model. A rapid increase of the ion flux to the target plate was observed associated with the re-ionization of the highly excited atoms generated by EIR.

The penetration process of a rotating magnetic perturbation into a rotating tokamak plasma has been investigated, taking account of the mode structure of the perturbations, and using a small magnetic probe in the small research tokamak CSTN-IV. It was observed that the radial component of the perturbation was amplified in the plasma when magnetic islands are formed, while the poloidal component was attenuated but, deep inside the plasma, amplified. Using a resistive MHD code, such modifications of external perturbation were found to be caused by a redistribution of plasma current due to the formation of magnetic islands. Considering the phase velocity of both the perturbation and the intrinsic plasma rotation, it was also found that the sideband component substantially affects the penetration process with magnetic islands forming. Therefore, in dynamic ergodic divertor operation, it is necessary to put the emphasis not only on the frequency of the perturbation fields but also on their direction, mode structure and the radial profile of the intrinsic plasma rotation at the same time.

For the purposes of long-term use of tungsten divertor walls, the formation process of the fuzzy tungsten nanostructure induced by exposure to the helium plasma was studied. In the present paper, the fuzzy nanostructure's formation has been successfully reproduced by the new hybrid simulation method in which the deformation of the tungsten material due to pressure of the helium bubbles was simulated by the molecular dynamics and the diffusion of the helium atoms was simulated by the random walk based on the Monte Carlo method. By the simulation results, the surface height of the fuzzy nanostructure increased only when helium retention was under the steady state. It was proven that the growth of the fuzzy nanostructure was brought about by bursting of the helium bubbles. Moreover, we suggest the following key formation mechanisms of the fuzzy nanostructure: (1) lifting in which the surface lifted up by the helium bubble changes into a convexity, (2) bursting by which the region of the helium bubble changes into a concavity, and (3) the difference of the probability of helium retention by which the helium bubbles tend to appear under the concavity. Consequently, the convex-concave surface structure was enhanced and grew to create the fuzzy nanostructure.

Fundamental studies on the interactions between transient deuterium-plasma heat pulses and tungsten surfaces were carried out in terms of electrical, mechanical and thermal response in a compact plasma device AIT-PID (Aichi Institute of Technology-Plasma Irradiation Device). Firstly, electron-emission-induced surface-temperature increase is discussed in the surface-temperature range near tungsten's melting point, which is accomplished by controlling the sheath voltage and power transmission factor. Secondly, anomalous penetration of tungsten atomic efflux into the surrounding plasma was observed in addition to a normal layered population; it is discussed in terms of the effect of substantial tungsten influx into the deuterium plasma, which causes dissipation of plasma electron energy. Thirdly, a momentum input from pulsed plasma onto a tungsten target was observed visually. The force is estimated numerically by the accelerated ion flow to the target as well as the reaction of tungsten-vapour efflux. Finally, a discussion follows on the effects of the plasma heat pulses on the morphology of tungsten surface (originally a helium-induced ‘fuzzy’ nanostructure). A kind of bifurcated effect is obtained: melting and annealing. Open questions remain for all the phenomena observed, although sheath-voltage-dependent plasma-heat input may be a key parameter. Discussions on all these phenomena are provided by considering their implications to tokamak fusion devices.

Arcing is a long-standing plasma?surface interaction issue, and the issue is currently being revived. This paper assesses the impact of arcing in fusion devices based on the observations in JT-60U, the Large Helical Device (LHD) and the linear divertor simulator NAGDIS-II. To investigate the first initiation process of arcing, field emission currents from several tungsten samples are measured. It is shown that the field emission current increases significantly after tungsten is exposed to helium plasmas. A postmortem analysis of JT-60U tiles reveals that arcing phenomena occurred on carbon baffle plates inside the vacuum vessel in JT-60U. From the observation of the arc trails recorded on the baffle plate, the amount of eroded materials is discussed. The arcing seems to occur frequently on the inner baffles rather than the outer baffles. From LHD, it is shown that the arcing can be initiated on nanostructured tungsten even without transient events. The erosion of tungsten by arcing will become an important issue in a fusion reactor, where helium fluence is significantly increased. From the experiments in NAGDIS-II, it is shown that arcing can be initiated even without transient heat load when the target voltage is low enough, e.g. ?500?V. Frequent initiation of arcing annihilates the nanostructure growth due to helium plasma irradiation on the surface.

The effects of fibre-form nanostructure of a tungsten surface on both electron emission and sputtering in helium/argon plasmas are represented. Generally, a nano-fibre forest, the so-called ‘fuzz’, made of tungsten with helium gas inside is found to have the tendency of suppressing the particle emission substantially. The electron emission comes from the impact of high-energy primary electrons. In addition, a deeply biased tungsten target, which inhibits the influx of even energetic primary electrons, seems to produce an electron emission, and it may be suppressed on the way to nanostructure formation on the surface of the W target. Such an emission process is discussed here. The sputtering yield of the He-damaged tungsten surface with the fibre-form nanostructure depends on the surface morphology while the sputtering itself changes the surface morphology, so that the time evolutions of sputtering yield from the W surface with an originally well-developed nanostructure are found to show a minimum in sputtering yield, which is about a half for the fresh nanostructured tungsten and roughly one-fifth of the yield for the original flat normal tungsten surface. The surface morphology at that time is, for the first time, made clear with field emission scanning electron microscopy observation. The physical mechanism for the appearance of such a minimum in sputtering yield is discussed.

For the first time, fluctuation characteristics at the high-field side (HFS) and low-field side (LFS) scrape-off-layers (SOLs) in L-mode plasmas of the JT-60U tokamak are compared in detail; the plasma transport is studied using reciprocating Langmuir probes. A statistical analysis based on probability density functions (PDFs) is employed to describe intermittent (nondiffusive) transport in SOL plasma fluctuations. It is found that positive bursty events associated with blobby plasma transport appear frequently at the LFS midplane. Further, the PDF at the LFS midplane is strongly positively skewed, while the PDF at the HFS SOL is close to a Gaussian distribution. The conventional conditional averaging method is improved by using the variable-interval time-averaging method along with it, which enables the precise reconstruction of the burst profile exhibiting a rapid increase and a slow decay. The radial evolution of plasma blobs is analysed by using an autocorrelation function, the short-time Fourier transform and wavelet analysis.

A fibreform nanostructured layer is formed on a tungsten surface by helium plasma bombardment. The helium fluence was of the order of 1026 m−2, and the surface temperature and incident ion energy during helium irradiation were, respectively, 1900 K and 75 eV. By irradiating a laser pulse to the surface in the plasma, a unipolar arc, which many people have tried to verify in well-defined experiments, is promptly initiated and continued for a much longer time than the laser pulse width. The laser pulse width (∼0.6 ms) and power (∼5 MJ m−2) are similar to the heat load accompanied by type-I edge localized modes (ELMs) in ITER. The unipolar arc is verified from an increase in the floating potential, a moving arc spot detected by a fast camera and arcing traces on the surface. This result suggests that the nanostructure on the tungsten surface formed by the bombardment of helium, which is a fusion product, could significantly change the ignition property of arcing, and ELMs become a trigger of unipolar arcing, which would be a great impurity source in fusion devices.

We investigate the intermittency of the edge plasma turbulence in the T-10 tokamak, the Large Helical Device, the linear machine NAGDIS-II and the HYBTOK-II tokamak. The higher order structure functions are analysed to characterize the self-similarity of the plasma intermittency. The generalized scale invariance over three decades of time scales is observed by involving the extended self-similarity hypothesis. Turbulent fluctuations demonstrate multifractal statistics. The structure function scalings deviate strongly from Kolmogorov's K41 model prediction. The high-order structure functions have a nonlinear scaling being a nonlinear function of the order index. The nonlinear scaling is interpreted within the framework of the log-Poisson model considering ‘hidden’ statistical symmetry (dilatation group), hierarchy of moments, a generalized scale covariance and an underlying multifractal multiplicative cascading process.

Current driven by injecting lower hybrid waves has been observed in low-density plasmas in the JIPP T-II. It is confirmed that RF-driven current is generated by momentum transfer from lower hybrid waves to suprathermal electrons with an energy of 8–25 keV. The driving efficiencies in tokamak and stellarator configurations are 1 kA·kW−1 and 0.3 kA·kW−1, respectively, at a power level of 40 kW. Enhanced electron cyclotron emission due to pitch-angle scattering of RF-driven suprathermal electrons is observed, and spikes in loop voltage and X-ray bursts appear coincidentally. In a long RF-pulse, these rapid changes advance to relaxation oscillations. It is concluded that the pulsating changes originate in the instantaneous scattering of RF-driven suprathermal electrons by the unstable waves excited at an anomalous Doppler resonance.

The characteristics of the lower hybrid wave in an octopole tokamak, HYBTOK-I, are investigated with a T-shaped alumina-loaded wire antenna well analysed both theoretically and experimentally, and with an on-line matching system reducing the reflected power. The ray trajectories derived by a full electromagnetic treatment are obtained for a tokamak plasma with non-circular cross-section. Mode conversion from slow to fast waves ensures the presence of a surface wave with weak longitudinal retardation. The effect of the plasma shaping on the wave trajectory is discussed. The rotational transform of the wave trajectory is checked with an RF probe. The resonant decay daughter wave energy penetrates well inside the plasma.

The effect of non-circularity of the plasma cross-section on the lower hybrid wave heating (LHWH) is studied by assuming reasonable profiles of the plasma parameters which are consistent with the magnetic flux function obtained by the theory of MHD equilibrium. It is found that, in a tokamak with a non-circular cross-section, the lower hybrid wave can penetrate into the plasma core in the same way as in a conventional tokamak. The absorption regions are in the case of an elliptic cross-section, localized near the midplane. A new function of the poloidal divertor, i.e. the reduction of surface waves with unfavourable effects on LHWH is discussed.

Very slow lower-hybrid waves travelling unidirectionally with a phase velocity of a few times the electron thermal velocity have been used to drive surface currents in a tokamak plasma. Most of the wave energy is dissipated at the plasma surface by virtue of a strong interaction with the electrons. This leads to electron acceleration up to velocities an order of magnitude greater than the electron thermal velocity. Electron trapping by the wave is discussed as a possible mechanism for surface current generation.