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At least 613 records · Page 34
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Lithium splashing from flowing liquid lithium limiter and its effect on high confinement plasma performance in EAST tokamak

To study the potential applications of liquid lithium (Li) as plasma facing material, the third generation of flowing liquid Li (FLiLi) limiter has been designed and successfully tested in EAST tokamak H-mode discharges in the 2018 run campaign. Here, the stability of liquid Li on FLiLi surface, and Li splashing and its effect on the plasma performance are investigated in detail. Li splashing was observed in L-mode and H-mode discharges due to Rayleigh-Taylor (R-T) instability, resulting from electromagnetic forces J → x B → . Li splashing in low-parameter plasma decreased both core and edge electron temperatures, resulting in the degradation of plasma energy confinement and even H-L back transition, however, it almost did not influence plasma confinement performance in high-parameter plasma. These findings indicate that high-parameter plasma has higher tolerance to Li impurities than low-parameter plasma. By contrast, tungsten splashing from the melted layer on the upper divertor was also induced by the R-T instability but generally resulted in plasma disruption, which suggests lower tolerance to tungsten impurities in EAST tokamak.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Comparative study of surface modification and D retention between beryllium and beryllides under high flux plasma exposure

The microstructures and deuterium (D) retention properties were investigated for beryllium intermetallic compounds (beryllides), such as Be 12 Ti and Be 12 V, compared to pure beryllium (Be), exposed to high density pure D and helium (He) mixed plasmas. TEM cross-sectional observations revealed the formation of cone structures on the Be surface exposed to the plasmas at a moderate temperature of 573 K. The crystal structure of the cones and the mass loss caused by the plasma exposure implied that the cone structures were generated by sputtering. The Ti or V surface enrichment was observed on both beryllides with no cone structures developed. TDS measurements indicated that He seeding to D plasma caused a ~ 4 times reduction of the D retention for both beryllides, while no reduction was observed for Be. As a result, the beryllide samples exposed to D + He mixture plasmas showed a lower total D retention than in Be.

Hydrogen retention↗
DOE OSTI2022

Multi-harmonic electron cyclotron heating and current drive scenarios for non-inductive start-up and ramp-up in high field ST-40 spherical tokamak

We report non-inductive start-up and ramp-up is an important topic for spherical tokamak reactor design as the central solenoid implementation is highly restrictive particularly for the low-aspect-ratio tokamak configuration. In the high field spherical tokamak (ST), ST-40 with B T0 ≤ 3 T, a preparation is underway for high power ECH and ECCD current start-up/ramp-up experiments utilizing two MW-class 140/105 GHz gyrotrons. Here, we explored various ECH/ECCD scenarios for a low-field-side (LFS) launch-angle steerable waveguide launcher placed near the mid-plane region. Due to the large toroidal field variation of ST configuration, multiple cyclotron harmonic resonance layers could exist within the plasma. In this start-up and ramp-up regime, both fundamental and second harmonic ECH resonances must be considered. We find that even with the presence of X-II resonance layer in the plasma, an efficient X-I ECH and ECCD regime can be accessed for the low electron temperature T e0 as low as 200 eV which is a typical starting temperature of ECH heated plasmas in an open-field-line configuration. The presence of X-II resonance could become significant at higher T e0 as X-II absorption increases with T e0 which could reduce the current ramp-up efficiency as the power reaching X-I is reduced. Finally for the pure X-I regime where the 2Ω e resonance is moved outside the plasma with B T0 ~ 3.4 T, we find that it is possible to reach the full current of I p ~ 1 MA fully non-inductively with the ECH power of ~1 MW at n e0 ~ 1.0 × 10 19 m -3 using 105 GHz frequency gyrotron. By reducing the outer limiter position R L ~ 78 cm to 70 cm, the pure X-I regime is recovered at the rated ST-40 magnetic field of B T0 ~ 3.0 T. This X-I regime is accessible with a relatively broad range of launched n II or the launching angles. A survey of X-mode X-II ECH and ECCD at higher density regimes is also shown for completeness.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

The 3D magnetic topology and plasma dynamics in open stochastic magnetic field lines

We report the thermal quench triggered by locked modes is known to be mainly due to open stochastic magnetic field lines connected to the wall boundary. It is essential to understand the 3D structure of open stochastic field lines since it determines the overall plasma dynamics in the system. In this study, we analyze the 3D magnetic topology for two key concepts, the connection length L c and the effective magnetic mirror ratio M eff , and present a comprehensive picture of electron and ion dynamics related to the magnetic topology. The connection length determines the 3D structure of the ambipolar potential, and a sharp potential drop across distinct L c regions induces the E × B transport and mixing across the field line. The confinement of electrons and ions along the field line is determined by the ambipolar potential and [Formula: see text] configuration. Electron and ion temperatures in magnetic hills (M eff < 1) are lower than in magnetic wells (M eff > 1) because particles in magnetic hills are more likely to escape toward the wall boundary along the field line. The mixing between the magnetic wells and hills by E × B and magnetic drift motions results in collisionless detrapping of electrons and ions, which reduces their temperature efficiently. Numerical simulations of two different magnetic configurations demonstrate the importance of the collisionless detrapping mechanism, which could be the main cause of plasma temperature drop during the thermal quench.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Characterizing impurity sourcing and transport in the high temperature boundary of DIII-D wide pedestal QH-mode plasmas

Wide Pedestal QH-mode (WPQH) plasmas in the DIII-D tokamak show a sheath limited SOL, where electron density and temperature remain nearly constant along field lines from the midplane to the divertor. Consequently, parallel gradients are weak. The first Langmuir probe measurements in this regime point to a high sheath temperature with target electron temperature T e up to ~150 eV, leading to high carbon self-sputtering. Midplane carbon densities from SOLPS-ITER modeling of these plasmas in a double-null configuration fall far below experimental measurements unless full drifts are activated. In the drift-dependent SOLPS-ITER modeling, anomalous poloidally uniform, radially varying transport is adjusted to match measured radial electron temperature and density profiles in the pedestal and SOL region. The resulting carbon density (C6+) matches measured carbon densities just inside the separatrix. The C2+ density near the outer strike point is also consistent with spectroscopic imaging. With the ion B×∇B drift towards the X-point, carbon in the lower divertors is redistributed from the private flux region to the high field side (HFS) and pushed upstream in the SOL by poloidal E×B drifts. The B × ∇B drift dominates the radial flow of carbon as it moves upstream. Simulations with reversed toroidal field (ion B × ∇B drift away from the X-point) show a radically different behavior, where carbon accumulates on the low field side in lower divertors, and is pushed towards the HFS in the upper divertors, indicating a strong effect of particle drifts on impurity distribution. In double-null configurations which are usually used in WPQH plasmas, these drift effects tend to counterbalance, so that the carbon density and Z eff are reduced at the outer mid-plane only modestly, by around 7% in the modeling. Further predictive modeling indicates that the carbon density can be significantly reduced by an order of magnitude by implementing a single-null shape with reversed toroidal field.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Electron plasma wave Thomson scattering on laboratory plasma jets

Plasma jets created from a 15 lm thick Al foil on a 1 MA pulsed power machine were studied using a new electron plasma wave (EPW) Thomson scattering system in conjunction with previously developed ion acoustic wave (IAW) Thomson scattering and interferometry. These diagnostics give multiple ways of measuring the electron temperature and density of the jet. Analysis of the EPW feature found the on-axis density of the jet to be between 5 X 10 18 and 1.4 X 10 19 cm -3 , which either matched or was higher than interferometry measurements. Outside of the jet, both of these diagnostics measured a density of 7 X 10 17 cm -3 . On one shot, the EPW spectral feature showed two pairs of peaks within a 250 lm scattering length on the edge of the jet, which shows that the boundary of the jet ~1 mm radius jet is 0.1 mm. While electron temperature measurements of the plasma jet are complicated by the probe beam producing inverse bremsstrahlung heating of the jet, comparison of the electron temperature measured between IAW and EPW Thomson scattering showed the EPW feature to imply significantly higher electron temperatures than the IAW feature (e.g., 160 eV vs 70 eV in one case). Various sources of this discrepancy (for example, density gradients, collisions, and a lag in ionization) and their impact on the plasma are discussed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Erratum: “Initial characterization of electron temperature and density profiles in PEGASUS spherical tokamak discharges driven solely by local helicity injection” [Phys. Plasmas 28, 102504 (2021)]

Here, this article describes errata in 'Initial characterization of electron temperature and density profiles in PEGASUS spherical tokamak discharges driven solely by local helicity injection,' Phys. Plasmas 28, 102504 (2021) that correct reported electron temperature values and their implications.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Gyrokinetic prediction of core tungsten peaking in a WEST plasma with nitrogen impurities

Tungsten peaking is predicted in the core of a WEST plasma with total-f gyrokinetic simulations, including both collisional and turbulent transport. This prediction is validated with a synthetic diagnostic of the bolometry. Although nitrogen impurities are shown to reduce the neoclassical peaking of tungsten on-axis, the overall tungsten peaking increases when nitrogen impurities are present, as they reduce the turbulence screening off-axis. This finding is important for the plasma current ramp-up phase of ITER, where light impurities seeding will be desirable to achieve low temperatures at the plasma-facing components and reduce tungsten sputtering. It provides further argument for applying early ECRH heating to maintain margins on the core power balance. The neoclassical peaking factor is cross-verified between XGC and FACIT. The heat flux at separatrix and the heat load width are modeled by XGC and compared to WEST data.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

VERITAS : A density-functional theory-based multiband kinetic model for understanding x-ray spectroscopy of dense plasmas

X-ray spectroscopy has long been a powerful diagnostic tool for hot, dilute plasmas, providing insights into plasma conditions by measuring line shifts and broadenings of atomic transitions. The technique critically depends on the accuracy of atomic physics models used to interpret spectroscopic measurements for inferring plasma properties such as free-electron density and temperature. Over the past decades, the atomic and plasma physics communities have developed robust atomic physics models to account for various processes in hot, dilute classical plasmas. While these models have been successful in that regime, their applicability becomes uncertain when interpreting x-ray spectroscopy experiments of above-solid-density plasmas. Given that finite-temperature density-functional theory (DFT) offers a more accurate description of dense plasma environments, we present the development of a DFT-based multi-band kinetic model, VERITAS, designed to improve the interpretation of x-ray spectroscopic measurements in high-density plasmas produced by laser-driven spherical implosions. This work details the VERITAS model and its application to both time-integrated and time-resolved x-ray spectra from implosion experiments on OMEGA. The advantages and limitations of the VERITAS model will also be discussed, along with potential directions for advancing x-ray spectroscopy of dense and superdense plasmas.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Scaling of Electron Heating by Magnetization During Reconnection and Applications to Dipolarization Fronts and Super-Hot Solar Flares

Electron ring velocity space distributions have previously been seen in numerical simulations of magnetic reconnection exhausts and have been suggested to be caused by the magnetization of the electron outflow jet by the compressed reconnected magnetic fields (Shuster et al., 2014, https://doi. org/10.1002/2014GL060608). Here, we present a theory of the dependence of the major and minor radii of the ring distributions solely in terms of upstream (lobe) plasma conditions, thereby allowing a prediction of the associated temperature and temperature anisotropy of the rings in terms of upstream parameters. We test the validity of the prediction using 2.5-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations with varying upstream plasma density and temperature, finding excellent agreement between the predicted and simulated values. We confirm the Shuster et al. suggestion for the cause of the ring distributions, and also find that the ring distributions are located in a region marked by a plateau, or shoulder, in the reconnected magnetic field profile. The predictions of the temperature are consistent with observed electron temperatures in dipolarization fronts, and may provide an explanation for the generation of plasma with temperatures in the 10s of MK in super-hot solar flares. A possible extension of the model to dayside reconnection is discussed. Since ring distributions are known to excite whistler waves, the present results should be useful for quantifying the generation of whistler waves in reconnection exhausts.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Experimental methods to test photoionized plasma models in emission

The expanding foil photoionized plasma platform was developed on the Z-machine at Sandia National Laboratories to produce terrestrial photoionized plasmas at some of the same conditions as those observed in astrophysical black hole accretion disks. The specific scientific goals of the platform are motivated by long-standing astrophysical puzzles related to accreting black hole systems. Ultimately, the experimental goal is to inform the supersolar Fe abundance problem by testing photoionized plasma models in emission with at-parameter laboratory data. High quality high resolution emission data with absolute intensity calibration from a laboratory photoionized plasma have never been collected prior to the experiments described here, providing broader motivation. A robust test of the model predictions requires the successful production of a laboratory photoionized plasma along with measurements of the supporting model inputs including the radiation drive spectrum used to create the photoionized plasma, the electron density, and the temperature. The measured absolute spectral radiance in emission collected from the independently diagnosed plasma can be compared against model calculations performed using the measured inputs. In this paper, we focus on the experimental platform and the model inputs, specifically detailing the methodology used to measure the plasma conditions. The moderate electron temperature of ∼41 eV ± 15 eV and electron density of ∼1e19 ± 1.6e18 e−/cm3 and the ∼3e12 W/cm2 x-ray irradiance at the sample confirm that photoionization dominates the plasma ionization and spectra.

Cho, P. B. (ORCID:0000000291632905)↗
DOE OSTI2025

Catastrophic Cooling Instability in Optically Thin Plasmas

The solar corona is the prototypical example of a low-density environment heated to high temperatures by external sources. The plasma cools radiatively, and because it is optically thin to this radiation, it becomes possible to model the density, velocity, and temperature structure of the system by modifying the MHD equations to include an energy source term that approximates the local heating and cooling rates. The solutions can be highly inhomogeneous and even multiphase because the well-known linear instability associated with this source term, thermal instability, leads to a catastrophic heating and cooling of the plasma in the nonlinear regime. Here we show that there is a separate, much simpler linear instability accompanying this source term that can rival thermal instability in dynamical importance. The stability criterion is the isochoric one identified by Parker (1953), and we demonstrate that cooling functions derived from collisional ionization equilibrium are highly prone to violating this criterion. If catastrophic cooling instability can act locally in global simulations, then it is an alternative mechanism for forming condensations, and due to its nonequilibrium character, it may be relevant to explaining a host of phenomena associated with the production of cooler gas in hot, low density plasmas.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Electron-impact ionization from excited states method

We present a distorted-wave with exchange (DWE) formulation for computing electron-impact ionization (EII) cross sections within the recently developed excited states method (ESM) for plasmas. The ESM provides a self-consistent quantum-mechanical description of both bound and continuum electronic states in dense plasmas, incorporating finite-temperature and screening effects absent in isolated-atom approaches. Using this framework, we calculate EII cross sections for lithium across a wide range of temperatures and densities. We show that the ESM reproduces the isolated-atom limit at low densities while capturing strong plasma effects, such as pressure ionization and shape resonances, at solid density. Comparisons with isolated-atom DWE and average-atom (AA) calculations reveal that, although AA cross sections can approximate configuration average behavior, the ESM provides more accurate, state-resolved answers. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that the ESM allows one to obtain rate coefficients for collisional-radiative modeling of plasmas out of local thermodynamical equilibrium.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Spectral studies of soft x-ray radiation of laser-produced plasma of various target materials in a wide spectral range

Here, the work is devoted to experimental study of soft X-ray radiation spectra of laser produced plasma in a wide spectral range 5–100 Å at the “Kamerton” facility (GPI) with pulse duration 70 ps, pulse energy 1–5 J, wavelength 0.53 microns at which the laser intensity (power flux density) of 7×10 14 – 3.5×10 15 W/cm 2 was achieved. A spectrograph was used, which had transmission diffraction gratings with a ratio of the elementary gap to the period of the structure of 0.25 and 0.41. Detection was performed on both UV-4 X-ray photo film and Fuji TR fluorescent imaging plate. Solid samples from Al, Si, Ti, Cu, Ta and W were used as targets. The ionization states of the plasma corresponding to various electron temperatures were calculated, which made it possible to estimate the electron temperature by comparison these calculation results with the experimentally obtained spectra. The estimated electron temperature, which depends on the laser pulse energy and the target material, varied within the range of 100–450 eV. To verify the correctness of the temperature estimations obtained by such comparison a numerical simulation of plasma radiation was carried out by the use of PrismSPECT computer program. It was found that the results of this simulation are in a good agreement with estimations on the base of experimentally obtained spectra. The analysis of these spectra showed that tantalum, tungsten or titanium targets are the best candidates among the tested ones for the use of laser produced plasma as a radiation source in the "water window" spectral range (23–44 Å) for applications in biology and medicine.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Ionization and temperature measurements in warm dense copper using x-ray absorption spectroscopy

We detail experimental results inferring ionization and temperature for warm dense copper plasmas at several times solid density (15–25 g/cm 3 ) and temperatures of 10–21 eV. Experiments performed at the OMEGA Laser Facility generate uniform warm dense matter conditions via symmetric shock compression of a buried copper layer. The plasma is probed with a laser-generated x-ray source to collect the K-shell x-ray absorption spectrum. Fitting bound-bound absorption contributions from constituent charge states of copper provides an estimated $\overline{Z}$ of approximately 4–7 for these warm dense copper plasmas. We find that these partially ionized plasmas have K-edge shifts of 12–30 eV and bound-bound resonance 1s → 3p absorption shifts of 4–26 eV with respect to the cold K edge. This study provides necessary experimental data to improve ionization and opacity models in the warm dense matter regime.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2024

Large $$N_c$$ QCD phase diagram at $$\mu _B=0$$

Abstract Lattice studies suggest that at zero baryon chemical potential and increasing temperature there are three characteristic regimes in QCD that are connected by smooth analytical crossovers: a hadron gas regime at$$T < T_{ch}\sim 155$$ T < T ch ∼ 155 MeV, an intermediate regime, called stringy fluid, at$$T_{ch}< T < \sim 3 T_{ch}$$ T ch < T < ∼ 3 T ch , and a quark-gluon plasma regime at higher temperatures. These regimes have been interpreted to reflect different approximate symmetries and effective degrees of freedom. In the hadron gas the effective degrees of freedom are hadrons and the approximate chiral symmetry of QCD is spontaneously broken. The intermediate regime has been interpreted as lacking spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking along with the emergence of new approximate symmetry, chiral spin symmetry, that is not a symmetry of the Dirac Lagrangian, but is a symmetry of the confining part of the QCD Lagrangian. While the high temperature regime is the usual quark-gluon plasma which is often considered to reflect “deconfinement” in some way. This paper explores the behavior of these regimes of QCD as the number of colors in the theory,$$N_c$$ N c , gets large. In the large$$N_c$$ N c limit the theory is center-symmetric and notions of confinement and deconfinement are unambiguous. The energy density is$$\mathcal{O}(N_c^0)$$ O ( N c 0 ) in the meson gas,$${{\mathcal {O}}}(N_c^1)$$ O ( N c 1 ) in the intermediate regime and$${{\mathcal {O}}}(N_c^2)$$ O ( N c 2 ) in the quark-gluon plasma regime. In the large$$N_c$$ N c limit these regimes may become distinct phases separated by first order phase transitions. The intermediate phase has the peculiar feature that glueballs should exist and have properties that are unchanged from what is seen in the vacuum (up to$$1/N_c $$ 1 / N c corrections), while the ordinary dilute gas of mesons with broken chiral symmetry disappears and approximate chiral spin symmetry should emerge.

Physics↗
DOE OSTI2025

Gold L-shell emission spectroscopy as a temperature diagnostic in laser-driven experiments

Measurements of plasma conditions within gold hohlraums are challenging but provide important information about hohlraum energy transport. To date, there are no reliable passive diagnostic approaches that produce information about the hohlraum plasma conditions. Gold L-shell emission spectroscopy is a promising method to measure the electron temperature in multi-keV gold hohlraum plasmas. In this study, we compare time-resolved measurements of gold L-shell spectra against a more conventional electron temperature-sensitive diagnostic, K-shell emission from zinc, a mid-Z dopant. The Au L-shell and Zn K-shell spectra are taken simultaneously. The analysis of both sets of data exhibits good agreement with a singular rad-hydro model, suggesting a similar evolution in the mean electron temperature of the hohlraum plasma. These findings support the use of L-shell spectroscopy of gold as a method to study gold plasma conditions.

Emission spectroscopy↗
DOE OSTI2023

A buffer-gas trap for the NEPOMUC positron beam: optimization studies with electrons

Buffer-gas traps (BGTs) use inelastic interactions with nitrogen molecules to capture positrons from a continuous beam. These devices are invaluable for high-resolution studies of matter–antimatter interactions, antihydrogen research and positronium laser spectroscopy. We present a new project with the goal of producing a non-neutral plasma containing ${\sim }10^8$ low-energy positrons by installing a BGT on the NEPOMUC (NEutron induced POsitron source MUniCh) high-intensity positron beam. Details of the BGT are outlined and results are presented from experiments in which an electron beam, with a similar intensity and energy spread to the remoderated NEPOMUC beam, was used to create pulses of non-neutral electron plasma. The device is a vital component of the APEX (A Positron Electron eXperiment) project, which aims to create a low-temperature electron–positron pair plasma.

Physics↗