Shin Kajita

Helium irradiation on tungsten changes the surface morphology dramatically by forming a nanometre-sized fibreform structure which could bring about serious problems for fusion reactors. From the experimental results in liner divertor simulators, it is revealed that the incident ion energy and surface temperature are key parameters for the formation of the structure. It is shown that the tungsten nanostructure is easily formed when the temperature is in the range 1000–2000 K, and the incident ion

The effects of a transient heat load on tungsten damaged by helium plasma irradiation have been investigated using a ruby laser with long pulse duration in the divertor simulator NAGDIS-II (Takamura et al 2002 Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 11 A42 ). The pulse width of the ruby laser was ∼0.6 ms, which is close to that of the expected heat load accompanied by type-I edge localized modes (ELMs) in ITER operation. Helium holes/bubbles, which were formed in the surface region of powder metallurgy tun

A fibreform nanostructured layer is formed on a tungsten surface by helium plasma bombardment. The helium fluence was of the order of 10 26 m −2 , and the surface temperature and incident ion energy during helium irradiation were, respectively, 1900 K and 75 eV. By irradiating a laser pulse to the surface in the plasma, a unipolar arc, which many people have tried to verify in well-defined experiments, is promptly initiated and continued for a much longer time than the laser pulse width. The las

It has been found recently that low-energy helium (He) plasma irradiation to tungsten (W) leads to the growth of W nanostructures on the surface. The process to grow the nanostructure is identified as a self-growth process of He bubbles and has a potential to open up a new plasma processing method. Here, we show that the metallic nanostructure formation process by the exposure to He plasma can occur in various metals such as, titanium, nickel, iron, and so on. When the irradiation conditions alt

Black metal absorbing light can be used for the light absorber material for a solar thermophotovoltaic system, which is expected to be a photovoltaic system in the next generation. Here we show that the fiberform nanostructured tungsten formed by helium irradiation absorbs the light from all angles of interest and is virtually black for a solar spectrum, from visible to near infrared wavelength; the absorptivity of the total solar power could be 98%. It is revealed that the nanostructure is form

Helium plasma irradiation on metal surfaces leads to the formation of metallic fuzzy nanostructures accompanied by the growth of helium bubbles in metals. The mechanism of the growth process, its impact for fusion devices, and potential application have been explored. Here we show enhanced growth of large-scale fuzz by precipitating additional metallic particles during helium plasma irradiation. The growth rate of the fuzzy structures became orders of magnitude greater than conventional fuzz gro

The thermal response of nanostructured tungsten, which was fabricated in the linear divertor simulator NAGDIS-II, was investigated using pulsed plasma in the MAGNUM-PSI device and by using high powered laser pulses. The temperature evolution in response to the pulses was measured with an infrared fast framing camera. The temperature increase in response to the pulses on the nanostructured sample was significantly greater than that of the pristine sample both for plasma and laser pulses. After th

Helium (He) plasma irradiation to tungsten (W) leads to morphology changes in nanometer scale by the formation and growth of He bubbles. Initially pinholes and protrusions are formed on the surface followed by the formation of nanostructures. In this study, based on experimental observation, the growth process of the fiberform nanostructures are revisited and the swelling process of the structure is discussed. The novel nanostructures are analyzed from the viewpoint of fractality. It is found th

The electron density and temperature obtained from the line intensity ratio method of HeI (λ=667.8, 706.5, and 728.1nm) are compared to the probe method in a divertor simulator. When a collisional radiative model that does not include the effect of the radiation transport was used for the analysis, ne obtained from the spectroscopic method was significantly higher than that from the electrostatic probe method. The discrepancy between the two methods increases with the gas pressure; in other word

Arcing is a long standing plasma–surface interaction issue in nuclear fusion research, and the issue has been revived recently from new points of view. In this study, arcing under fusion relevant conditions is demonstrated in a linear plasma device using a pulsed laser to mimic the transient heat load. Ignition conditions of arcing were investigated systematically by changing the laser power, plasma conditions, surface nature and so on. Moreover, the cross-sectional view of arc trail was observe

Heat diffusion across the fuzzy nanostructured tungsten (W) layer formed by helium plasma irradiation was measured using a pulsed light heating thermoreflectance method. By observing the heat diffusion across the nanostructured tungsten layer with a short (1 ns) laser pulse heating, the averaged thermal conductivity of the nanostructured layer was deduced to be ∼1.5 W/mK, which is ∼1% or less of that of pure (ideal) W.

In this study, we show from helium (He) plasma irradiation to tantalum and iron surfaces that morphology changes in nanoscale occur on the both metals. In particular, from systematic irradiation experiments, it is identified that fuzzy nanostructures are grown on the both metals. The necessary conditions for the morphology changes are discussed based on the experimental results in terms of the helium migration, the physical sputtering, and the shear modulus of materials. Because oxides or oxinit