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Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a promising method for quantifying the fuel content of the plasma-facing components of ITER both in between plasma discharges (in-situ) and after maintenance operations. The aim of the present study is to test the applicability of in-situ LIBS for monitoring deuterium (D) and helium (He) content of W samples exposed to fusion relevant plasma fluxes in the linear plasma device Pilot-PSI.The D loading was performed during 1000s of plasma exposure at low (200-300 °C) surface temperatures. Despite of low intensity and noisy LIBS spectra, H and D lines, at 656.1 and 656.3nm, respectively, could be fitted with Lorentzian contours and reliably resolved at 1.2 mbar background pressure of argon.In the case of He loading, the samples were also exposed to plasma during 1000s while the surface temperature reached values up to 720 °C at the center. Already at 10–2 mbar residual pressure of the device, the He I line at 587.6nm was visible for the first 2–3 laser shots.We demonstrated that in-situ LIBS is a reliable method for detection of He and D retention in ITER-relevant materials. Nevertheless, for measuring relative and absolute concentrations of D and He in the ITER-relevant samples, further studies are needed. Keywords: Plasma surface interaction, LIBS, Fuel retention, Tungsten

Liquid metal infused capillary porous structures (CPSs) are considered as a potential divertor solution for DEMO due to their potential power handling capability and resilience to long term damage. In this work the power handling and performance of such Sn-based CPS systems is assessed both experimentally and via modelling. A Sn-CPS target was exposed to heat fluxes of up to 18.1 MW m−2 in He plasma in the Pilot-PSI linear device. Post-mortem the target showed no damage to nor any surface exposure of the underlying W-CPS felt. The small pore size (∼40µm) employed resulted in no droplet formation from the target in agreement with calculated Rayleigh-Taylor and Kelvin-Helmoholtz instability thresholds. The temperature response of the Sn-target was used to determine the thermal conductivity of the mixed Sn-CPS material using COMSOL modelling. These values were then used via further finite element analysis to extrapolate to DEMO relevant monoblock designs and estimate the maximum power handling achievable based on estimated temperature windows for all component elements of the design. For an optimized design a heat-load of up to 20 MW m−2 may be received while the use of CPS also offers other potential design advantages such as the removal of interlayer requirements. Keywords: Liquid-metal, DEMO, CPS, Tin, Power-exhaust, Plasma-wall interaction

Samples of EUFROFER, a reduced activation ferritic martensitic steel, were exposed in the linear plasma device Pilot-PSI to a deuterium (D) plasma with incident ion energy of ∼40eV and incident D flux of 2–6×1023D/m2s to fluences up to 1027D/m2 at surface temperatures ranging from 400K to 950K. The main focus of the study lays on the surface morphology changes dependent on the surface temperature and the surface composition evolution, e.g., the enrichment in tungsten; but also the erosion and the D retention are studied. The created surface morphology varies strongly with surface temperature from needle-like to corral-like structures. The visible lateral length scale of the formed structures is in the range of tens of nanometres to above 1µm and exhibits two thermal activated regimes below and above ∼770K with activation energies of 0.2eV and 1.3eV, respectively. The lateral variation of the enrichment of heavy elements on the surface is correlated to this surface morphology at least in the high temperature regime, independent of the origin of the enrichment (intrinsic from the sample or deposited by the plasma). Also the erosion exhibits temperature dependence at least above ∼770K as well as a fluence dependence. The amount of deuterium retained in the top 500nm is almost independent of the exposure temperature and is of the order of 1018D/m2, which would correspond to a sub-monolayer D coverage on the surface. The retained D in the volume summing up over the complete samples exceeds the D retained close to the surface by one order of magnitude. Keywords: Plasma facing material, Surface morphology, Erosion, Steel, Plasma exposure

Cavity-ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) was implemented to measure the re-deposition of liquid tin under a high flux plasma beam in the linear plasma device Pilot-PSI. A capillary porous system (CPS) consisting of a molybdenum cup and tungsten meshes (pores diameters of 0.2 mm and 0.44 mm) was filled with tin and exposed to argon plasma. The absorption of a UV laser-beam at 286.331 nm was used to determine a number of sputtered neutral tin atoms. The incoming flux of argon ions of ~50 eV was 1.6–2.7  ×  1023 m−2 s−1, and the sample temperature measured by pyrometry varied from 850 °C to 1200 °C during exposures. The use of CRDS for measuring absolute number of particles under such plasma exposure was demonstrated for the first time. The number of sputtered tin particles in the cavity region assuming no losses would be expected to be 5.5  ×  1011–1.2  ×  1012 while CRDS measurements showed only 5.7–9.9  ×  108. About 98–99.8% of sputtered particles were therefore found to not reach the CRDS observation volume. Spectroscopic ratios of Sn I to Sn II ions, as well as equilibrium considerations, indicate that fast ionization as well as plasma entrainment of neutrals is responsible for the discrepancy. This would lead to high re-deposition rates, implying a lowered contamination rate of core plasma and lower required replenishment rates at high-flux conditions than would otherwise be expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For tungsten exposed to low-energy hydrogen-plasmas, it has been thought that grains with surface normal are most susceptible to blistering while those with surface normal are virtually impervious to it. Here, we report results showing that non-uniformity of blister distribution depends on the state of the surface due to polishing. In electrochemically polished material blisters appear on the grains with all orientations, while in mechanically polished material blister-free areas associated with particular orientations emerge. On the other hand, blistering is shown to have a strong dependence on the level of deformation within particular grains in partially recrystallized material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first study of the interaction of metallic dust (tungsten, aluminum) adhered on tungsten substrates with transient plasma heat loads is presented. Experiments were carried out in the Pilot-PSI linear device with transient heat fluxes up to 550 MW m−2 and in the DIII-D divertor tokamak. The central role of the dust-substrate contact area in heat conduction is highlighted and confirmed by heat transfer simulations. The experiments provide evidence of the occurrence of wetting-induced coagulation, a novel growth mechanism where cluster melting accompanied by droplet wetting leads to the formation of larger grains. The physical processes behind this mechanism are elucidated. The remobilization activity of the newly formed dust and the survivability of tungsten dust on hot surfaces are documented and discussed in the light of implications for ITER. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concentration of helium in tungsten fuzz-like nanostructures has been measured by means of thermal desorption spectroscopy. Fuzz was formed on the W surface under intensive plasma irradiation at 1500 K. The helium content was measured first in the as-irradiated sample, and then in a similar sample with the fuzz mechanically scraped from the sample surface. The difference gave the He content in the fuzz, which was estimated to be He/ W  =  (13  ±  4)%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first combined experimental and theoretical studies of dust remobilization by plasma forces are reported. The main theoretical aspects of remobilization in fusion devices under steady state conditions are analyzed. In particular, the dominant role of adhesive forces is highlighted and generic remobilization conditions—direct lift-up, sliding, rolling—are formulated. A novel experimental technique is proposed, based on controlled adhesion of dust grains on tungsten samples combined with detailed mapping of the dust deposition profile prior and post plasma exposure. Proof-of-principle experiments in the TEXTOR tokamak and the EXTRAP-T2R reversed-field pinch are presented. The versatile environment of the linear device Pilot-PSI allowed for experiments with different magnetic field topologies and varying plasma conditions that were complemented with camera observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dust trajectories have been recorded with an unprecedented, under fusion-relevant plasma conditions, spatial resolution of 9 μm/pixel in Pilot-PSI. The optical setup allowed the use of fast cameras as a basic microscope. It is demonstrated that such a resolution is essential for the correct interpretation of experiments on several aspects of dust-surface interactions. Highly resolved tungsten dust dynamics measurements are presented from dedicated experiments on dust collisions with plasma facing components, motion in the vicinity of castellated samples and remobilization from planar samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking the example of tungsten, we demonstrate that high-flux plasma exposure of recrystallized and plastically deformed samples leads to principal differences in the gas trapping and associated surface modification. Surface of the exposed pre-deformed samples exhibits ruptured µm-sized blisters, a signature of bubbles nucleated close to the surface on the plastically induced dislocation network. Contrary to the recrystallized samples, no stage attributable to gas bubbles appeared in the desorption spectrum of the deformed samples demonstrating the strong impact of dislocations on hydrogen retention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A steady-state high-flux H or He plasma beam was balanced against the pressure of a Sn vapor cloud for the first time, resulting in a self-regulated heat flux intensity near the liquid surface. A temperature response of the liquid surface characterized by a decoupling from the received heating power and significant cooling of the plasma in the neutral Sn cloud were observed. The plasma heat flux impinging on the target was found to be mitigated, as heat was partially dissipated by volumetric processes in the vapor cloud rather than wholly by surface effects. These results motivate further exploration of liquid metal solutions to the critical challenge of heat and particle flux handling in fusion power plants.

A coherence imaging camera has been set up at Pilot-PSI. The system is to be used for imaging the plasma density through the Stark effect broadening of the H(γ) line. Local density values are then obtained by the Abel inversion of the measured interferometric fringe contrast. This report will present the instrument setup and proof-of-principle demonstration. The inverted spatial electron density profiles obtained near the cascaded arc source of Pilot-PSI in discharges with axial magnetic field of B=0.4 T are compared with an independent measurement of electron density by Thomson scattering and good agreement is found.