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Nuclear fusion is a promising candidate to supply energy for future generations. At the high temperatures needed for the nuclei to fuse, ions and electrons are no longer bound into atoms. Magnetic fields confine the resulting plasma. One of the heating methods is the ion cyclotron resonant absorption of waves emitted by an external Ion Cyclotron Radio Frequency (ICRF) antenna. The efficiency of ICRF heating is strongly affected by rectified RF electric fields at antenna and other in-vessel components (so-called ‘sheath effects’). The chapter presents an overview of ICRF principles. Attention is given to characterising the detrimental sheath effects through experiments on a dedicated test facility (IShTAR: Ion cyclotron Sheath Test ARrangement). IShTAR has a linear magnetic configuration and is equipped with an independent helicon plasma source. The configuration and capabilities of the test-bed and its diagnostics are described, as well as an analysis of the plasmas.

Nuclear fusion is a promising candidate to supply energy for future generations. At the high temperatures needed for the nuclei to fuse, ions and electrons are no longer bound into atoms. Magnetic fields confine the resulting plasma. One of the heating methods is the ion cyclotron resonant absorption of waves emitted by an external Ion Cyclotron Radio Frequency (ICRF) antenna. The efficiency of ICRF heating is strongly affected by rectified RF electric fields at antenna and other in-vessel components (so-called ‘sheath effects’). The chapter presents an overview of ICRF principles. Attention is given to characterising the detrimental sheath effects through experiments on a dedicated test facility (IShTAR: Ion cyclotron Sheath Test ARrangement). IShTAR has a linear magnetic configuration and is equipped with an independent helicon plasma source. The configuration and capabilities of the test-bed and its diagnostics are described, as well as an analysis of the plasmas.

We report on recent experiments on the ASDEX Upgrade (AUG) tokamak (major radius R ≈1.65 m, minor radius a ≈ 0.5 m) with third harmonic ICRF heating of deuterium beam ions. Prior to this work, the scheme has been developed and applied on the JET tokamak, the largest currently operating tokamak (R ≈ 3 m, a ≈ 1 m), for fusion product studies and for testing alpha particle diagnostics in preparation of ITER [1]. The experiments reported here demonstrate that this scheme can also be used in medium size tokamaks such as AUG despite their reduced fast ion confinement., This work has been carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium and has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under grant agreement No 633053. The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission., Postprint (published version)

United States. Dept. of Energy (DE-FC02-99ER54512)

United States. Dept. of Energy (Award DE-FC02-99ER54512)

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, 2013., Cataloged from PDF version of thesis., Includes bibliographical references (pages 179-187)., ICRF-heated discharges on Alcator C-Mod are associated with enhanced sputtering of molybdenum plasma facing surfaces and increased levels of core impurity contents, which subsequently degrade the core plasma performance. RF sheath rectification on open magnetic field lines that intercept material surfaces is currently suspected of causing an enhancement of molybdenum impurity sources by increasing the energy with which incident plasma ions strike material surfaces. While it has previously been observed that plasma potentials on open magnetic field lines are enhanced in ICRF-heated discharges on Alcator C-Mod, a direct link between local RF wave fields and plasma potentials has yet to be established. Experimental measurements reveal that regions that directly magnetically map and do not map to the active antennas experience plasma potential enhancement. The "mapped" results are consistent with the slow wave rectification mechanism where the plasma potential enhancement is a result of rectification of the slow ICRF wave electric field launched directly by the antenna. This rectification mechanism is localized to regions directly magnetically mapped to the active antennas and occurs over a narrow plasma density range where the slow waves can propagate. The potential enhancement in the "unmapped" regions (inaccessible to directly launched slow waves) correlates well with the local fast wave fields and has multiple features that are consistent with the theory that involves fast waves coupling to a slow wave at a conducting surface, which then leads to rectification of the plasma potential. Cross field profile measurements reveal that the plasma density profile is also affected by ICRF power and it is suspected that the gradients in the plasma potential profile are responsible for the density profile changes through E x B plasma flows along equipotential surfaces. The implications are that the absolute plasma potentials and the plasma potential gradients are capable of af, by Roman Igorevitch Ochoukov., Ph. D.

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, 2013., Cataloged from PDF version of thesis., Includes bibliographical references (pages 179-187)., ICRF-heated discharges on Alcator C-Mod are associated with enhanced sputtering of molybdenum plasma facing surfaces and increased levels of core impurity contents, which subsequently degrade the core plasma performance. RF sheath rectification on open magnetic field lines that intercept material surfaces is currently suspected of causing an enhancement of molybdenum impurity sources by increasing the energy with which incident plasma ions strike material surfaces. While it has previously been observed that plasma potentials on open magnetic field lines are enhanced in ICRF-heated discharges on Alcator C-Mod, a direct link between local RF wave fields and plasma potentials has yet to be established. Experimental measurements reveal that regions that directly magnetically map and do not map to the active antennas experience plasma potential enhancement. The "mapped" results are consistent with the slow wave rectification mechanism where the plasma potential enhancement is a result of rectification of the slow ICRF wave electric field launched directly by the antenna. This rectification mechanism is localized to regions directly magnetically mapped to the active antennas and occurs over a narrow plasma density range where the slow waves can propagate. The potential enhancement in the "unmapped" regions (inaccessible to directly launched slow waves) correlates well with the local fast wave fields and has multiple features that are consistent with the theory that involves fast waves coupling to a slow wave at a conducting surface, which then leads to rectification of the plasma potential. Cross field profile measurements reveal that the plasma density profile is also affected by ICRF power and it is suspected that the gradients in the plasma potential profile are responsible for the density profile changes through E x B plasma flows along equipotential surfaces. The implications are that the absolute plasma potentials and the plasma potential gradients are capable of af, by Roman Igorevitch Ochoukov., Ph. D.

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, 2013., Cataloged from PDF version of thesis., Includes bibliographical references (pages 179-187)., ICRF-heated discharges on Alcator C-Mod are associated with enhanced sputtering of molybdenum plasma facing surfaces and increased levels of core impurity contents, which subsequently degrade the core plasma performance. RF sheath rectification on open magnetic field lines that intercept material surfaces is currently suspected of causing an enhancement of molybdenum impurity sources by increasing the energy with which incident plasma ions strike material surfaces. While it has previously been observed that plasma potentials on open magnetic field lines are enhanced in ICRF-heated discharges on Alcator C-Mod, a direct link between local RF wave fields and plasma potentials has yet to be established. Experimental measurements reveal that regions that directly magnetically map and do not map to the active antennas experience plasma potential enhancement. The "mapped" results are consistent with the slow wave rectification mechanism where the plasma potential enhancement is a result of rectification of the slow ICRF wave electric field launched directly by the antenna. This rectification mechanism is localized to regions directly magnetically mapped to the active antennas and occurs over a narrow plasma density range where the slow waves can propagate. The potential enhancement in the "unmapped" regions (inaccessible to directly launched slow waves) correlates well with the local fast wave fields and has multiple features that are consistent with the theory that involves fast waves coupling to a slow wave at a conducting surface, which then leads to rectification of the plasma potential. Cross field profile measurements reveal that the plasma density profile is also affected by ICRF power and it is suspected that the gradients in the plasma potential profile are responsible for the density profile changes through E x B plasma flows along equipotential surfaces. The implications are that the absolute plasma potentials and the plasma potential gradients are capable of af, by Roman Igorevitch Ochoukov., Ph. D.

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, 2013., Cataloged from PDF version of thesis., Includes bibliographical references (pages 179-187)., ICRF-heated discharges on Alcator C-Mod are associated with enhanced sputtering of molybdenum plasma facing surfaces and increased levels of core impurity contents, which subsequently degrade the core plasma performance. RF sheath rectification on open magnetic field lines that intercept material surfaces is currently suspected of causing an enhancement of molybdenum impurity sources by increasing the energy with which incident plasma ions strike material surfaces. While it has previously been observed that plasma potentials on open magnetic field lines are enhanced in ICRF-heated discharges on Alcator C-Mod, a direct link between local RF wave fields and plasma potentials has yet to be established. Experimental measurements reveal that regions that directly magnetically map and do not map to the active antennas experience plasma potential enhancement. The "mapped" results are consistent with the slow wave rectification mechanism where the plasma potential enhancement is a result of rectification of the slow ICRF wave electric field launched directly by the antenna. This rectification mechanism is localized to regions directly magnetically mapped to the active antennas and occurs over a narrow plasma density range where the slow waves can propagate. The potential enhancement in the "unmapped" regions (inaccessible to directly launched slow waves) correlates well with the local fast wave fields and has multiple features that are consistent with the theory that involves fast waves coupling to a slow wave at a conducting surface, which then leads to rectification of the plasma potential. Cross field profile measurements reveal that the plasma density profile is also affected by ICRF power and it is suspected that the gradients in the plasma potential profile are responsible for the density profile changes through E x B plasma flows along equipotential surfaces. The implications are that the absolute plasma potentials and the plasma potential gradients are capable of af, by Roman Igorevitch Ochoukov., Ph. D.

Impurity contamination and localized heat loads associated with ion cyclotron range of frequency (ICRF) antenna operation are among the most challenging issues for ICRF utilization.. Another challenge is maintaining maximum coupled power through plasma variations including edge localized modes (ELMs) and confinement transitions. Here, we report on an experimental assessment of a field aligned (FA) antenna with respect to impurity contamination, impurity sources, RF enhanced heat flux and load tolerance. In addition, we compare the modification of the scrape of layer (SOL) plasma potential of the FA antenna to a conventional, toroidally aligned (TA) antenna, in order to explore the underlying physics governing impurity contamination linked to ICRF heating. The FA antenna is a 4-strap ICRF antenna where the current straps and antenna enclosure sides are perpendicular to and the Faraday screen rods are parallel to the total magnetic field. In principle, alignment with respect to the total magnetic field minimizes integrated E∥ (electric field along a magnetic field line) via symmetry. Consistent with expectations, we observed that the impurity contamination and impurity source at the FA antenna are reduced compared to the TA antenna. In both L and H-mode discharges, the radiated power is 20–30% lower for a FA-antenna heated discharge than a discharge heated with the TA-antennas. Further we observe that the fraction of RF energy deposited upon the antenna is less than 0.4 % of the total injected RF energy in dipole phasing. The total deposited energy increases significantly when the FA antenna is operated in monopole phasing. The FA antenna also exhibits an unexpected load tolerance for ELMs and confinement transitions compared to the TA antennas. However, inconsistent with expectations, we observe RF induced plasma potentials to be nearly identical for FA and TA antennas when operated in dipole phasing. In monopole phasing, the FA antenna has the highest plasma potenti, United States. Dept. of Energy (DOE award DE-FC02-99ER54512), United States. Dept. of Energy (Fusion Energy Postdoctoral Research Program administered by ORISE)

United States. Dept. of Energy (Cooperative Agreement No. DE-FC02-99ER54512)

United States. Dept. of Energy (Grant No. DE-FC02-99ER54512)

An ion sensitive probe (ISP) is developed as a robust diagnostic for measuring plasma potentials (Φ[subscript P]) in magnetized plasmas. The ISP relies on the large difference between the ion and electron gyroradii (ρ[subscript i]/ρ[subscript e] ∼ 60) to reduce the electron collection at a collector recessed behind a separately biased wall distance ∼ ρ[subscript i]. We develop a new ISP method to measure the plasma potential that is independent of the precise position and shape of the collector. Φ[subscript P] is found as the wall potential when charged current to the probe collector vanishes during the voltage sweep. The plasma potentials obtained from the ISP match Φ[subscript P] measured with an emissive probe over a wide range of plasma conditions in a small magnetized plasma., United States. Dept. of Energy (Grant No. DE-FC02-99ER54512)