Evidence of near-SOL tungsten accumulation using a far-SOL collector probe array and OEDGE modelling in the DIII-D metal rings L-mode discharges
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Results are presented from the experimental study of conditions for the formation of a plasma ring by a microwave discharge in a narrow coaxial cavity in an axisymmetric magnetic field the magnitude of which is below the electron-cyclotron resonance value. It is established that the necessary condition for this process is the presence of an electrostatic wave propagating in the azimuthal direction, the circumference of the plasma ring being a multiple of the wave half-length.
Spark plasma discharges induce vortex rings and a hot gas kernel. We develop a model to describe the late stage of the spark-induced flow and the role of the vortex rings in the entrainment of cold ambient gas and the cooling of the hot gas kernel. The model is tested in a plasma-induced flow using density and velocity measurements obtained from simultaneous stereoscopic particle image velocimetry and background oriented schlieren. We show that the spatial distribution of the hot kernel follows the motion of the vortex rings, whose radial expansion increases with the electrical energy deposited during the spark discharge. Here, the vortex ring cooling model establishes that entrainment in the convective cooling regime is induced by the vortex rings and governs the cooling of the hot gas kernel, and the rate of cooling increases with the electrical energy deposited during the spark discharge.
The conditions for the excitation of low-frequency oscillations in a plasma ring formed by an ECR discharge in a narrow coaxial cavity filled with argon were studied experimentally. The domain of the discharge parameters where these oscillations are stable is determined. It is supposed that the oscillations recorded are excited due to the appearance of an electrostatic wave propagating in the azimuthal direction.
In this paper, two-dimensional electron density measurements are made in a magnetic ring cusp discharge using laser collisional induced fluorescence. The magnet rings are isolated from the anode structure such that they can be biased independently in order to modulate electron flows through the magnetic cusps. Electron density images are captured as a function of bias voltage in order to assess the effects of current flow through the cusp on the spatial extent of the cusp. We anticipated that for a fixed current density being funneled through the magnetic cusp, the leak width would necessarily increase. Unexpectedly, the leak width, as measured by LCIF images, does not increase. This suggests that the current density is not constant, and that possibly either electrons are being heated or additional ionization events are occurring within the cusp. Spatially resolving electron temperature would be needed to determine if electrons are being heated within the cusp. Finally, we also observe breakdown of the anode magnetosheath and formation of anode spots at high bias voltage.
Laser-collisional induced fluorescence is used to study the plasma generated by a split-ring resonator discharge under an external cusp shaped magnetic field created by permanent magnets. The electron density and electron temperature are measured for a helium plasma at different pressures, powers, and magnet field strengths. It is found that the magnetic fields produce higher electron temperatures with peak temperatures of ∼3 eV, while the no magnet case has peak temperatures of ∼0.8 eV. Conversely, the peak electron density is obtained in the no magnet case at a value of ∼1.9 × 1011 cm−3. This indicates that the cusp-field did magnetize the electrons, but contrary to expectations, it resulted in a decrease in electron density. This is believed to be due to the magnetic field having negative effects on the resonance of the plasma source.
We report an experimental study of the structural transition of a stable complex plasma crystal to a solid-liquid phase coexistence by the controlled adjustment of the confinement potential, while keeping all other parameters constant. The experiments are carried out on a tabletop linear dusty plasma experimental device, which consists of a circular powered electrode and an extended grounded cathode plate. A stationary crystal of melamine formaldehyde particles is formed in a background of argon plasma inside a confining ring that is isolated from the cathode by a ceramic cover. The stable crystal structure breaks in the core region and transitions to a coexistent state by carefully changing the confining potential, thereby modifying the sheath structure. The transition is confirmed by evaluating the variation in different characteristic parameters such as the pair correlation function, local bond order parameter, and dust kinetic temperature as a function of confining bias potential. It is found that melting in the core is due to the onset of dust fluctuations in the layers beneath the topmost layer, which grow in amplitude as the confining bias potential is reduced below a threshold value. The present technique of changing confinement provides a unique feature to study structural transitions of plasma crystals without affecting the overall plasma parameters.
We report an experimental study of the structural transition of a stable complex plasma crystal to a solid-liquid phase coexistence by the controlled adjustment of the confinement potential, while keeping all other parameters constant. The experiments are carried out on a tabletop linear dusty plasma experimental device, which consists of a circular powered electrode and an extended grounded cathode plate. A stationary crystal of melamine formaldehyde particles is formed in a background of argon plasma inside a confining ring that is isolated from the cathode by a ceramic cover. The stable crystal structure breaks in the core region and transitions to a coexistent state by carefully changing the confining potential, thereby modifying the sheath structure. The transition is confirmed by evaluating the variation in different characteristic parameters such as the pair correlation function, local bond order parameter, and dust kinetic temperature as a function of confining bias potential. It is found that melting in the core is due to the onset of dust fluctuations in the layers beneath the topmost layer, which grow in amplitude as the confining bias potential is reduced below a threshold value. The present technique of changing confinement provides a unique feature to study structural transitions of plasma crystals without affecting the overall plasma parameters.
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Spark discharges induce a complex flow field consisting of a shock wave at early times (~ 1 μs), a pair of vortex rings, and a hot gas kernel. The vortex rings entrain ambient gas into the hot gas kernel and control its cooling and expansion. In this work, we investigate the shock wave's contribution in producing the vortex ring vorticity. We analyze high-speed (700 kHz) schlieren images of the shock wave for a range of electrical energies to measure the shock properties and estimate shock velocity and curvature. These measurements are combined with a model to calculate the vorticity generated. The measurements show that the highest vorticity is generated near the peak shock curvature location, and the shock curvature and strength increase with electrical energy deposited. A comparison of the vorticity estimated from the model to vorticity measurements from stereoscopic particle image velocimetry shows the results to be statistically equivalent. Furthermore, this suggests that the shock curvature and velocity contribute to the vortex rings induced by spark discharges.
Abstract When using nanosecond repetitively pulsed discharges to actuate on dynamic combustion instabilities, the environment the discharge is created in is unsteady and changing on the timescale of the combustion processes. As a result, individual discharge pulses are triggered in a background gas that evolves at the timescale of combustion dynamics, and pulse-to-pulse variations may be observed during the instability cycle. Prior work has studied nanosecond pulsed discharges in pin-to-ring configurations used to control instabilities in lean-operating swirl-stabilized combustors, and observed variable discharge behavior. The focus of this work is on characterizing how the pulse-to-pulse discharge morphology, energy deposition, and actuation authority, evolve during the combustion instability cycle. This has important implications for designing effective plasma-assisted combustion control schemes. The discharge is observed in two distinct modes, a streamer corona and a nanosecond spark, with the occurrence of each regime directly linked to the phase of the combustor instability. Variation of pulse repetition frequency affects the total fraction of pulses in each mode, while variation of voltage affects the onset of the nanosecond spark mode. The transitions are described in terms of ratios of the relevant combustion and plasma timescales and the implications of this coupled interaction on the design of an effective control scheme is discussed.
The high luminosity upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider, foreseen for 2029, requires the replacement of the ATLAS Inner Detector with a new all-silicon Inner Tracker (ITk). The expected ultimate total integrated luminosity of 4000 fb –1 means that the strip part of the ITk detector will be exposed to the total particle fluences and ionizing doses reaching the values of 1.6 · 10 15 1 MeV n eq /cm 2 and 0.66 MGy, respectively, including a safety factor of 1.5. Radiation hard n + -in-p micro-strip sensors were developed by the ATLAS ITk strip collaboration and are produced by Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. The active area of each ITk strip sensor is delimited by the n-implant bias ring, which is connected to each individual n + implant strip by a polysilicon bias resistor. The total resistance of the polysilicon bias resistor should be within a specified range to keep all the strips at the same potential, prevent the signal discharge through the grounded bias ring and avoid the readout noise increase. While the polysilicon is a ubiquitous semiconductor material, the fluence and temperature dependence of its resistance is not easily predictable, especially for the tracking detector with the operational temperature significantly below the values typical for commercial microelectronics. Dependence of the resistance of polysilicon bias resistor on the temperature, as well as on the total delivered fluence and ionizing dose, was studied on the specially-designed test structures called ATLAS Testchips, both before and after their irradiation by protons, neutrons, and gammas to the maximal expected fluence and ionizing dose. The resistance has an atypical negative temperature dependence. It is different from silicon, which shows that the grain boundary has a significant contribution to the resistance. Finally, we discuss the contributions by parameterizing the activation energy of the polysilicon resistance as a function of the temperature for unirradiated and irradiated ATLAS Testchips.
The relationship between the tungsten gross erosion and the ELM characteristics is investigated for high performance (H-mode) discharges during the dedicated Metal Rings Campaign in DIII-D, using the one-dimensional ‘free-streaming’ ELM model, coupled to a simple analytical TRIM.SP sputtering model, while the OEDGE code is employed to calculate the inter-ELM impurity distribution and tungsten gross erosion. A carbon-tungsten mixed target material is used for both inter- and intra-ELM simulations. The OEDGE results reveal that the inter-ELM tungsten gross erosion rate is not sensitive to the carbon fraction on the tungsten surface layer; a wider range of carbon fractions from 0.3 to 0.6 give similar tungsten gross erosion profiles and match the diagnostic data, which is consistent with the simple analytical model. However, the intra-ELM simulation indicates that the value of surface carbon fraction can be as low as 0.3 to reproduce the measured tungsten gross erosion during ELMs, based on the effective ionizations/photon (S/XB) value of WI emissions. Finally, for both inter- and intra-ELM cases, carbon is predicted to dominate the tungsten erosion. However, in contrast to the inter-ELM tungsten erosion, which is dominated by locally redeposited C 2+ , the energetic C 6+ originating from the pedestal can contribute substantial tungsten erosion in the near-separatrix region during ELMs, and the width of this C 6+ dominated region exhibits a negative correlation with the heat flux density carried by ELMs.
Absolute time-resolved populations of N 2 in the excited A 3 Σ u + electronic state that are generated in a repetitive ns pulse discharge in nitrogen have been measured by Cavity Ring Down Spectroscopy (CRDS) and Tunable Diode Laser Spectroscopy (TDLAS). CRDS measurements of N 2 (A 3 Σ u + ,v = 0–2) populations are made in the discharge afterglow at pressures of 22 and 39 Torr. The data reduction procedure takes into account the linewidth of the pulsed laser source, which is comparable with the absorption linewidth and results in a non-single exponential ring down decay. Peak N 2 (A 3 Σ u + ,v = 0–2) populations after a 10-pulse ns discharge burst are in the range of 10 12 –10 13 cm -3 . In the afterglow, these populations exhibit a relatively slow decay with the characteristic time of approximately 500 μs, most likely due to the quenching by N atoms. TDLAS data have been taken at a higher pressure of 132 Torr. Absolute time-resolved N 2 (A 3 Σ u + ,v = 0,1) number densities are measured during ns pulse discharge bursts up to 5 pulses long and in the afterglow, peaking at 6·10 12 cm -3 and 3·1013 cm -3 , respectively. The results indicate that N 2 (A 3 Σ u + ) is generated after every discharge pulse on a 20–50 μs time scale, much longer compared to the discharge pulse duration of ~100 ns, and subsequently decays between the pulses. The decay rate increases during the discharge burst. In the afterglow, N 2 (A 3 Σ u + ,v = 0,1) population decay significantly more rapidly compared to the low-pressure CRDS conditions, with the characteristic time of approximately 160 μs after a 5-pulse discharge burst.
In this work, we present a new fluid plasma solver with adaptive Cartesian mesh (ACM) based on a full-Newton (nonlinear, implicit) scheme for non-equilibrium gas discharge plasma. The electrons and ions are described using drift-diffusion approximation coupled to Poisson equation for the electric field. The electron-energy transport equation is solved to account for electron thermal conductivity, Joule heating, and energy loss of electrons in collisions with neutral species. The rate of electron-induced ionization is a function of electron temperature and could also depend on electron density (important for plasma stratification). The ion and gas temperature are kept constant. The transport equations are discretized using a non-isothermal Scharfetter-Gummel scheme to resolve possible large temperature gradients in the sheaths. We demonstrate the new solver for simulations of direct current (DC) and radiofrequency (RF) discharges. The implicit treatment of the coupled equations allows using large time steps. The full-Newton method (FNM) enables fast nonlinear convergence at each time step, offering significantly improved simulation efficiency. We discuss the selection of time steps for solving different plasma problems. The new solver enables solving several problems we could not solve before with existing software: two- and three-dimensional structures of the entire DC discharges including cathode and anode regions, electric field reversals and double-layer formation, the normal cathode spot and an anode ring, moving striations in diffuse and constricted DC discharges, and standing striations in RF discharges. The developed FNM-ACM technique offers many benefits for tackling the disparity of gas discharge plasma systems' time scales and nonlinearity.
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The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) injection system transports a chopped, 1ms H- ion beam from the linac into the accumulator ring, where two electrons are stripped from each ion, resulting in a proton beam propagating in the ring. The injection kickers use a 1400A current source with a 1ms discharge time to paint the optimum phase space of the injected proton population. The accumulation ring stacks 1us bunches from the 1ms beam pulse to increase peak beam current by a factor of ~1000. The accumulated beam is deflected by fourteen 33kV, 700ns pulsed extraction kicker magnets and delivered to the mercury target, where neutrons are spalled for science experiments. Protecting the accelerator from an errant beam—which may result from asynchronous firing or insufficient magnetic-field intensity in kicker systems—requires a system that monitors and verifies the pulsed current in the kicker magnets prior to and during each 60Hz beam pulse. In addition, the extraction system pulse-forming network (PFN) is verified to be correctly charged and ready for triggering prior to injecting the beam into the linac from the ion source. This paper describes the two verification systems requirements, limitations of the existing systems, and development of new systems.
Here, unipolar arcing was an important mechanism of metal surface erosion during the recently conducted Metal Rings Campaign in DIII-D when two toroidally continuous tile rings with 5 cm wide W-coated TZM inserts were installed in graphite tiles in the lower divertor, one on the floor and one on the shelf. Most of the arc damage occurred on the shelf ring. The total amount of W removed by arcing from the affected ~4% of the shelf ring area was estimated ~0.8 × 10 21 at., about half of the total amount of W eroded and redeposited outside the inserts (1.8 ± 0.9)×10 21 at. The rings were exposed for a total of ~480 discharges, an equivalent of plasma time on W surfaces (with ${{I}}_{{\rm{p}}}\gt 0.5$ MA) ~10 3 s. Arcing was monitored in situ with WI (400.9 nm) filtered camera and photomultipliers and showed that: (i) arcing only occurred during ELMs and disruptions, (ii) arcing rate was much lower on the floor than on the shelf ring, and (iii) arcing had a low cut off power flux density about 2 MW m –2 . About half of arc tracks had large ${10}^{\circ }$ pitch angle and probably were produced during disruptions. Such tracks were only found on the shelf. Moderate toroidal variation of the arc track density and W erosion with nearly n = 1 pattern has been measured.