Effect of dielectronic recombination on charge-state distribution in laser-produced plasma based on steady-state collisional-radiative models

Armed with four different steady-state collisional-radiative (CR) models, we investigated the effect of dielectronic recombination (DR) on the charge-state distribution in laser-produced silicon plasma. To assess this effect, we performed a series of temporally resolved spectra of highly charged Si ions in the extreme ultraviolet region. Ab initio calculations of the DR rate coefficients were done for Si⁶⁺–Si⁴⁺ ions. We also analyzed the evolution of the collisional ionization, radiative recombination, three-body recombination, photo-ionization, and DR rate coefficients as a function of electron temperature. The electron temperature and electron density for different delay times were obtained by comparing the normalized experimental and simulated spectra. The ion fraction and average charge state from the four different CR models were also obtained. The results indicate that the DR process has a greater influence in the stage of plasma evolution that cannot be neglected in plasma diagnoses.     

Effect of N_2 and O_2 on OH radical production in an atmospheric helium microwave plasma jet

UV-pulsed laser cavity ringdown spectroscopy of the hydroxyl radical OH(A–X)(0–0)band in the wavelength range of 306–310 nm was employed to determine absolute number densities of OH in the atmospheric helium plasma jets generated by a 2.45 GHz microwave plasma source.The effect of the addition of molecular gases N_2 and O_2 to He plasma jets on OH generation was studied.Optical emission spectroscopy was simultaneously employed to monitor reactive plasma species.Stark broadening of the hydrogen Balmer emission line(H_β)was used to estimate the electron density nein the jets.For both He/N_2 and He/O_2 jets, newas estimated to be on the order of 10~(15)cm~(-3).The effects of plasma power and gas flow rate were also studied.With increase in N_2 and O_2 flow rates, netended to decrease.Gas temperature in the He/O_2 plasma jets was elevated compared to the temperatures in the pure He and He/N_2 plasma jets.The highest OH densities in the He/N_2 and He/O_2 plasma jets were determined to be 1.0?×10~(16)molecules/cm~3 at x?=?4 mm(from the jet orifice)and 1.8?×?10~(16)molecules/cm~3 at x=3 mm, respectively.Electron impact dissociation of water and water ion dissociative recombination were the dominant reaction pathways, respectively, for OH formation within the jet column and in the downstream and far downstream regions.The presence of strong emissions of the N_2~+ bands in both He/N_2 and He/O_2 plasma jets, as against the absence of the N_2~+ emissions in the Ar plasma jets, suggests that the Penning ionization process is a key reaction channel leading to the formation of N_2~+ in these He plasma jets.     

Diagnostics and active species formation in an atmospheric pressure helium sterilization plasma source

Systematic spectroscopic studies and diagnostics of an atmospheric pressure radiofrequency (13.56 MHz) He plasma is presented. The discharge is an intrinsic part of the resonant circuit of the radiofrequency oscillator and was obtained using a monoelectrode type torch, at various gas flow-rates (0.1-6.0 l/min) and power levels (0-2 W). As function of He flow-rate and power the discharge has three developing stages: point-like plasma, spherical plasma and ellipsoidal plasma. The emission spectra of the plasma were recorded and investigated as function of developing stages, flow-rates and plasma power. The most important atomic and molecular components were identified and their evolution was studied as function of He flow-rate and plasma power towards understanding basic mechanisms occurring in this type of plasma. The characteristic temperatures (vibrational T_vibr, rotational T_rot and excitation T_exc) and the electron number density (n_e) were determined.     

Spectroscopic Measurement of Shock Waves in an Arcjet Plasma Expanding Through a Conical Nozzle

A diamond-shaped shock wave was created in a helium arcjet plasma. Visi- ble/ultraviolet emission spectroscopy was used to investigate the condition for the formation of stable shocks and to determine characteristics of the plasma. Dependence of the position of the shock front on the gas pressure in the expansion region was investigated. It was found that the shock wave arises from the collision of plasma particles and residual neutral atoms in that region. Continuum and line spectra of neutral helium were measured, from which the electron temper- atures were derived. The electron density was deduced from the Inglis-Teller limit of the He I 2p 3 P-3d 3 D series. The temperature and density were found to have almost constant values of 0.2 eV and 8.5×10 13 cm 3 , respectively, across the shock front.     

Temporal and Spatial Evolution of Laser-Induced Plasma from a Slag Sample

Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy(LIBS) has been demonstrated to be an effective method for slag analysis.In order to better clarify the nature of the plasma generated from a slag sample,an Nd:YAG pulse laser at 1064 nm wavelength was used to ablate the slag sample in air.The temporal and spatial evolutions of plasma parameters,including emission intensity,electronic density and plasma temperature,have been studied.It is shown that the electron density and plasma temperature drop off rapidly with the delay time as a result of plasma expansion and cooling.It has been found that the electron density of the whole plasma is close to that of the center regions in the plasma.The results of the spatial distributions on the two-dimensional plane have shown that there is a big region with lower electron density values caused by the recombination process in the center of the plasma.The maximum of the plasma temperature takes place at the regions close to the target,and the border of the plasma front-head has higher plasma temperatures than that of the center part.     

Calculating the electron temperature in the lightning channel by continuous spectrum

Based on the theory of plasma continuous radiation,the relationship between the emission intensity of bremsstrahlung and recombination radiation and the plasma electron temperature is obtained.During the development process of a return stroke of ground flash,the intensity of continuous radiation spectrum is separated on the basis of the spectrums with obviously different luminous intensity at two moments.The electron temperature of the lightning discharge channel is obtained through the curve fitting of the continuous spectrum intensity.It is found that electron temperature increases with the increase of wavelength and begins to reduce after the peak.The peak temperature of the two spectra is close to 25 000 K.To be compared with the result of discrete spectrum,the electron temperature is fitted by the O I line and N II line of the spectrum respectively.The comparison shows that the high temperature value is in good agreement with the temperature of the lightning core current channel obtained from the ion line information,and the low temperature at the high band closes to the calculation result of the atomic line,at a low band is lower than the calculation of the atomic line,which reflects the temperature of the luminous channel of the outer corona.     

Void swelling of an oxide dispersion strengthened ferritic alloy in a high voltage electron microscope

An oxide dispersion strengthened ferritic alloy with nominal composition Fe-13Cr-3.5Ti-1.5Mo-2TiO₂ and a cast alloy with a composition close to that of the matrix of the oxide dispersion strengthened alloy are irradiated in a high voltage electron microscope in the temperature range 380–550°C. The alloys are doped with 0–30 ppm helium. For alloys containing 10 ppm He a peak swelling temperature at 450°C is found. A maximum swelling of 1.1% is found at an irradiation dose of 20 dpa. In the absence of He no swelling is found in the temperature range 430–470°C. The swelling rate is highest at the onset of swelling. The results obtained here are quite similar to those for some ferritic steels such as FV607, EM 12 and HT9, except for the influence of He and for the dose dependence.     

Optical Emission Spectroscopy Analysis of the Early Phase During Femtosecond Laser-Induced Air Breakdown

Single-pulse and double-pulse optical emission spectroscopy （OES） analyses were carried out in air by using ultrashort laser pulses at atmospheric pressure. The aim of this work is to use spectroscopic methods to analyze the early phase of laser-induced plasma after the femtosecond laser pulse. The temporal behavior of emission spectra of air plasma has been characterized. In comparison with the single-pulse scheme, the plasma emission obtained in the double-pulse scheme presents a more intense continuum along with several additional ionic lines. As only one line is available in the single-pulse scheme, the plasma temperature measurements were performed using only the relative line-to-continuum intensity ratio method, whereas the relative line-to-line intensity ratio method and the relative line-to-continuum intensity ratio method were used simultaneously to estimate the electron temperature in the double-pulse scheme. The results reveal that the temperature values obtained by the two methods in the double-pulse scheme agree. Moreover, this shows that the relative line-to-continuum intensity ratio method is suitable for early phase of laser-induced plasma diagnostics. The electron number density was estimated using the Stark broadening method. In the early phase of laser-induced plasma, the temporal evolution of the electron number density exhibits a power law decrease with delay time.     

Investigation of plasma exposed W–1% La2O3 tungsten in a high ion flux,low ion energy,low carbon impurity plasma environment for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor

Previous investigations of tungsten for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) were focusing on using energetic ion beams whose energies were over 1 keV. This study presents experimental results of exposed W–1% La₂O₃ in high ion flux (10²² m^–2), low ion energies (about 110 eV) steady-state deuterium plasmas at elevated temperatures (873–1250 K). The tungsten samples are floating during plasma exposure. Using a high-pressure gas analyzer, the residual carbon impurities in the plasma are found to be about 0.25%. No carbon film is detected on the surface by the EDX analysis after plasma exposure. An infrared pyrometer is also used as an in situ detector to monitor the surface emissivities of the substrates during plasma exposure. Using the scanning electron microscopy, microscopic pits of sizes ranging from 0.1 to 5 μm are observed on the plasma exposed tungsten surfaces. These pits are believed to be the results of erupted deuterium gas bubbles, which recombine underneath the surface at defect locations and grain boundaries, leading to substrate damage and erosion loss of the substrate material. Low temperature plasma exposure of a tungsten foil indicates that deuterium gas (D₂) is trapped inside the substrate. Macroscopic blisters are observed on the surface. The erosion yield of the W–1% La₂O₃ increases with temperature and seems to saturate at around 1050 K. Scattered networks of bubble sites are found 5 μm below the substrate surface. High temperature plasma exposure appears to reduce the population as well as the size of the pits. The plasma exposed W–1% La₂O₃ substrates, exposed above 850 K, retain about 10¹⁹ D/m², which is two orders of magnitude less than those retained by the tungsten foils exposed at 400 K.     

Experimental Study of the Atomic and Molecular Processes Related to Plasma Detachment in Steady-State Divertor Simulator MAP-II

Atomic and molecular processes relevant to the volumetric recombination phenomena were investigated in a linear divertor plasma simulator MAP-II. Volumetric recombination is induced in He plasma by puffing of He or H2. In the He puffing case, the reduction of the ion flux is dominated by the electron-ion recombination. In the H2 puffing case, however, it is dominated by the molecule-assisted recombination (MAR), which is characterized by the disappearance of the Helium Rydberg spectra and by the existence of the hydrogen negative ions. Current achievement and the future prospect are described.     

Results of Ionospheric Heating Experiments Involving an Enhancement in Electron Density in the High Latitude Ionosphere

Observations are presented of the phenomenon of the enhancement in electron density and temperature that is caused by a powerful pump wave at a frequency near the fifth gyrofrequency.The observations show that the apparent enhancement in electron density extending over a wide altitude range and the enhancement in electron temperature around the reflection altitude occur as a function of pump frequency.Additionally,the plasma line spectra show unusual behavior as a function of pump frequency.In conclusion,the upper hybrid wave resonance excited by the pump wave plays a dominating role and leads to the enhancement in electron temperature at the upper hybrid altitude.The phenomenon of apparent enhancement in electron density does not correspond to the true enhancement in electron density,this may be due to some mechanism that preferentially involves the plasma transport process and leads to the strong backscatter of radar wave along the magnetic line,which remains to be determined.     

Light particle irradiation effects in Si nanocrystals

Si nanocrystals, formed by Si ion implantation into SiO₂ layers and subsequent annealing at 1150°C, were irradiated at room temperature either with He⁺ions at energies of 30 or 130 keV, or with 400 keV electrons. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and photoluminescence (PL) studies were performed. TEM experiments revealed that the Si nanocrystals were ultimately amorphized (for example at ion doses ∼10¹⁶ He cm⁻²) and could not be recrystallized by annealing up to 775°C. This contrasts with previous results on bulk Si, in which electron- and very light ion-irradiation never led to amorphization. Visible photoluminescence, usually ascribed to quantum-size effects in the Si nanocrystals, was found to decrease and vanish after He⁺ ion doses as low as 3 × 10¹²–3 × 10¹³ He cm⁻² (which produce about 1 displacement per nanocrystal). This PL decrease is due to defect-induced non-radiative recombination centers, possibly situated at the Si nanocrystal/SiO₂ interface, and the pre-irradiation PL is restored by a 600°C anneal.     

Line identification of extreme ultraviolet(EUV) spectra from low-Z impurity ions in EAST tokamak plasmas

Extreme ultraviolet(EUV) spectra emitted from low-Z impurity ions in the wavelength range of10–500 ? were observed in Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak(EAST)discharges. Several spectral lines from K-and L-shell partially ionized ions were successfully observed with sufficient spectral intensities and resolutions for helium, lithium, boron, carbon,oxygen, neon, silicon and argon using two fast-time-response EUV spectrometers of which the spectral intensities are absolutely calibrated based on the intensity comparison method between visible and EUV bremsstrahlung continua. The wavelength is carefully calibrated using wellknown spectra. The lithium, boron and silicon are individually introduced for the wall coating of the EAST vacuum vessel to suppress mainly the hydrogen and oxygen influxes from the vacuum wall, while the carbon and oxygen intrinsically exist in the plasma. The helium is frequently used as the working gas as well as the deuterium. The neon and argon are also often used for the radiation cooling of edge plasma to reduce the heat flux onto the divertor plate. The measured spectra were analyzed mainly based on the database of National Institute of Standards and Technology. As a result, spectral lines of He Ⅱ, Li Ⅱ–Ⅲ, B Ⅳ–Ⅴ, C Ⅲ–Ⅵ, O Ⅲ–Ⅷ, Ne Ⅱ–Ⅹ,Si Ⅴ–Ⅻ, and Ar Ⅹ–XVI are identified in EAST plasmas of which the central electron temperature and chord-averaged electron density range in T_(e0)=0.6–2.8 keV and n_e=(0.5–6.0)×10~(19) m~(-3), respectively. The wavelengths and transitions of EUV lines identified here are summarized and listed in a table for each impurity species as the database for EUV spectroscopy using fusion plasmas.     

Void Swelling of Solution-Annealed Type 316 Stainless Steel under Long Time Proton Irradiation

Solution-annealed type 316 stainless steel was irradiated by 150 keV proton to a dose of about 6 dpa at the irradiation temperature ranging 450–700°C. To examine the effect of aging during irradiation, the present proton irradiation was carried out for about 25 h at a low dose rate of 7×10–^?5dpa/s. The specimens without He preinjection showed much smaller void swelling than those preinjected with He to the content of 10 at.ppm. Similarly to the case of neutron irradiations, the void swelling in the He preinjected specimens showed the temperature dependence with double peaks, and the peak swelling temperatures were about 550 and 650°C. In these specimens with He preinjection. void number density decreased and average void diameter increased with the increase of irradiation temperature in the range of 450–600°C, but these trends were reversed between 600 and 650°C. The volume of the grain boudary M₂₃C6 precipitates increased with the increase of irradiation temperature from 600 to 700°C, and it was concluded that the decrease of soluble carbon due to the precipitation of M₂₃C6 caused the second swelling peak at 650°C.     

Characterization of a microsecond pulsed non-equilibrium atmospheric pressure Ar plasma using laser scattering and optical emission spectroscopy

A non-equilibrium atmospheric pressure argon(Ar) plasma excited by microsecond pulse is studied experimentally by laser scattering and optical emission spectroscopy(OES), and theoretically by collisional-radiative(CR) model. More specifically, the electron temperature and electron density of plasma are obtained directly by the laser Thomson scattering, the gas temperature is measured by laser Raman scattering, the optical emissions of excited Ar states of plasma are measured by OES. The laser scattering results show that the electron temperature is about 1 eV which is similar to that excited by 60 Hz AC power, but the gas temperature is as low as 300 K compared to about 700 K excited by 60 Hz AC power. It is shown that the microsecond pulsed power supply, rather than nanosecond ones, is short enough to reduce the gas temperature of atmospheric pressure plasma to near room temperature. The electron temperature and electron density are also obtained by CR model based on OES, and find that the intensities of the optical emission intensity lines of 727.41, 811.73, 841.08, 842.83, 852.44 and 912.86 nm of Ar can be used to characterize the behavior of electron density and electron temperature, it is very useful to quickly estimate the activity of the atmospheric pressure Ar plasma in many applications.     

Computational Study of Emitted Spectra from the Neon Plasma Focus

The expected emission spectra (full, Bremsstrahlung, recombination, and line) of neon focussed plasma have been studied for different conditions. Expected neon plasma spectra at certain electron temperature range have been plotted. The suitable electron temperatures ranges for neon plasma soft X-ray emission and extreme ultraviolet emission have been investigated. The X-ray ratio curves for various electron temperatures with probable electron and ion densities of the neon plasma produced have been computed with the assumption of non-local thermodynamic equilibrium model for the distribution of the ionic species. These ratio curves could be used for electron temperatures deduction of neon plasma focus.     

Measurement of electron density and electron temperature of a cascaded arc plasma using laser Thomson scattering compared to an optical emission spectroscopic approach

As advanced linear plasma sources, cascaded arc plasma devices have been used to generate steady plasma with high electron density, high particle flux and low electron temperature. To measure electron density and electron temperature of the plasma device accurately, a laser Thomson scattering(LTS) system, which is generally recognized as the most precise plasma diagnostic method, has been established in our lab in Dalian University of Technology. The electron density has been measured successfully in the region of 4.5?×?10(19)m~(-3) to7.1?×?10~(20)m~(-3) and electron temperature in the region of 0.18 eV to 0.58 eV. For comparison,an optical emission spectroscopy(OES) system was established as well. The results showed that the electron excitation temperature(configuration temperature) measured by OES is significantly higher than the electron temperature(kinetic electron temperature) measured by LTS by up to 40% in the given discharge conditions. The results indicate that the cascaded arc plasma is recombining plasma and it is not in local thermodynamic equilibrium(LTE). This leads to significant error using OES when characterizing the electron temperature in a non-LTE plasma.     

Recent Results of Edge Plasma Parameters Measurements in IR-T1 Tokamak by Probe

Langmuir probes (LP) are the most common diagnostics for the local measurement of very important plasma parameters such as plasma density, electron temperature, plasma potential and the electron energy distribution function (EEDF). In this paper the applicability of the first derivative Langmuir probe method in processing the electron part of the current-voltage (I–V) characteristics in IR-T1 Tokamak is reported. The EEDF at different radial positions in the edge region and Scrape off Layer (SOL) are derived and the values of the plasma potential, electron temperature and electron density are estimated. Results comparison between the first derivative method and Stangeby method shows a satisfactory agreement.     

Fusion-neutron production in the TFTR with Deuterium neutral-beam injection

We report measurements of the fusion reaction rate in the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) covering a wide range of plasma conditions and injected neutral-beam powers up to 6.3 MW. The fusion neutron production rate in beam-injected plasmas decreases slightly with increasing plasma density n_e, even though the energy confinement parameter n_eE generally increases with density. The measurements indicate and Fokker-Planck simulations show that with increasing density the source of fusion neutrons evolves from mainly beam-beam and beam-target reactions at very low n_e to a combination of beam-target and thermonuclear reactions at high n_e. At a given plasma current, the reduction in neutron source strength at higher n_e is due to both a decrease in electron temperature and in beam-beam reaction rate. The Fokker-Planck simulations also show that at low n_e, plasma rotation can appreciably reduce the beam-target reaction rate for experiments with coinjection only. The variation of neutron source strength with plasma and beam parameters is as expected for beam-dominated regimes. However, the Fokker-Planck simulations systematically overestimate the measured source strength by a factor of 2–3; the source of this discrepancy has not yet been identified.On leave from RCA David Sarnoff Research Center, Princeton, New Jersey 08540.On assignment from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831.On leave from Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, EG&G Idaho, Inc., Idaho Falls, Idaho 83415.     

Spectroscopic studies of fuel recycling and impurity behaviors in the divertor region of Wendelstein 7-X

The first divertor operation phase(OP1.2 a) was carried out on Wendelstein 7-X in the second half of 2017.Fuel recycling and impurity behaviors in the divertor region were investigated by employing a newly built ultraviolet–visible–near infrared overview spectroscopy system.The characteristic spectral lines of the working gases(hydrogen and helium),intrinsic impurities(carbon,oxygen and iron),and seeded impurities(neon and nitrogen) were identified and analyzed.The divertor electron temperature and density were measured using He I(667.8,706.5,and 728.1 nm) line intensity ratios.The Hα(656.3 nm),He I(587.6 nm),C II(514.5 nm),and O I(777.2 nm) emissions were investigated over a wide range of operating conditions.The results showed that fuel and impurity emissions in the divertor region exhibit a strong dependence on magnetic topology and plasma conditions.The levels of Hα,He I,C II,and O I emissions are all reduced moving from the standard configuration to the high mirror configuration,and even further reduced for the high iota configuration,which is associated with decreasing connection length in these island divertor configurations.The H/He influx ratio shows that the plasma is a mixture of helium and hydrogen.The neutral and impurity influxes from the divertor target tend to increase with increasing divertor electron temperature.