Changes in surface conditions with first plasma in the Princeton Large Torus (PLT)

In--situ measurements are reported of the changes in surface composition of 305 stainless steel exposed to the first plasma discharges in PLT. Auger electron spectroscopy of pre-exposure surfaces shows a multilayer coverage of carbon and a fractional monolayer coverage of oxygen. Surfaces subjected to increasing levels of plasma exposure show substantial removal of the carbon multilayer, increased fractional-monolayer coverages of oxygen and iron, and tenth-monolayer quantities of chlorine and sulfur. (auth

A high-average-power FEL for industrial applications

CEBAF has developed a comprehensive conceptual design of an industrial user facility based on a kilowatt UV (150-1000 nm) and IR (2-25 micron) FEL driven by a recirculating, energy-recovering 200 MeV superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) accelerator. FEL users{endash}CEBAF`s partners in the Laser Processing Consortium, including AT&T, DuPont, IBM, Northrop-Grumman, 3M, and Xerox{endash}plan to develop applications such as polymer surface processing, metals and ceramics micromachining, and metal surface processing, with the overall effort leading to later scale-up to industrial systems at 50-100 kW. Representative applications are described. The proposed high-average-power FEL overcomes limitations of conventional laser sources in available power, cost-effectiveness, tunability and pulse structure. 4 refs., 3 figs., 2 tabs

First lasing of the Jefferson Lab IR Demo FEL

As reported previously [1], Jefferson Lab is building a free-electron laser capable of generating a continuous wave kilowatt laser beam. The driver-accelerator consists of a superconducting, energy-recovery accelerator. The initial stage of the program was to produce over 100 W of average power with no recirculation. In order to provide maximum gain the initial wavelength was chosen to be 5 mu-m and the initial beam energy was chosen to be 38.5 MeV. On June 17, 1998, the laser produced 155 Watts cw power at the laser output with a 98% reflective output coupler. On July 28th, 311 Watts cw power was obtained using a 90% reflective output coupler. A summary of the commissioning activities to date as well as some novel lasing results will be summarized in this paper. Present work is concentrated on optimizing lasing at 5 mu-m, obtaining lasing at 3 mu-m, and commissioning the recirculation transport in preparation for kilowatt lasing this fall

Deuterium pumping speed measurements on 77 K cryopanels and implications for D-T retention in neutral beam systems

An upper limit for the pumping speed of deuterium on 77 K surfaces has been determined by in-situ pressure measurements in a TFTR neutral beam line pumped by 423 m/sup 2/ of LN/sub 2/-cooled cryopanels. The measurement has importance for estimating the tritium retention in the beam line following operation of the ion sources with tritium. No D/sub 2/ pumping was observed. An upper limit for D/sub 2/ pumping on 77 K surfaces of less than or equal to2.4 x 10/sup -7/ l/s cm/sup 2/ was determined, corresponding to a D/sub 2/ sticking coefficient of less than or equal to1.5 x 10/sup -8/. Based on the upper limit a D-T retention factor, equal to the ratio of retained D-T to D-T input, has been determined to be less than or equal to5 x 10/sup -3/. This upper limit for D-T retention bounds the tritium inventory within the beam line to a small fraction of the tritium throughput. Comparably small upper limits for hydrogenic sticking coefficients, of the order of 10/sup -6/ - 10/sup -10/, have been determined from a review of H/sub 2/O cryotrapping measurements at 77 K and from the physical adsorption studies of H/sub 2/ on H/sub 2/O at 4 K. 22 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab

Review of the wall problem and conditioning techniques for tokamaks

A variety of conditioning techniques have been applied to tokamaks to control low Z impurities originating from vacuum vessel surface contaminants and to modify the working gas recycling properties. After chemical or physical treatment of the vacuum vessel hardware, in-situ vacuum vessel treatments are usually applied, including: (1) vacuum baking; (2) discharge cleaning; and (3) gettering. As the magnetic fusion program moves to the next generation of large test reactors, the implementation of any of the above techniques becomes a costly procedure. It is therefore prudent to understand the mechanisms and physical-chemical effects of a particular conditioning procedure and maximize the efficiency. A review is given of the present understanding of the physical mechanisms, the resulting surface effects, and benefits to plasma performance of the various conditioning procedures. Particular attention is given to the application of hydrogen glow discharge cleaning and the use of titanium gettering as conditioning procedures

Pressure measurements in magnetic-fusion devices

Accurate pressure measurements are important in magnetic fusion devices for: (1) plasma diagnostic measurements of particle balance and ion temperature; (2) discharge cleaning optimization; (3) vacuum system performance; and (4) tritium accountability. This paper reviews the application, required accuracy, and suitable instrumentation for these measurements. Demonstrated uses of ionization-type and capacitance-diaphragm gauges for various pressure and gas-flow measurements in tokamaks are presented, with specific reference to the effects of magnetic fields on gauge performance and the problems associated with gauge calibration

Partial pressure analysis of plasmas

The application of partial pressure analysis for plasma diagnostic measurements is reviewed. A comparison is made between the techniques of plasma flux analysis and partial pressure analysis for mass spectrometry of plasmas. Emphasis is given to the application of quadrupole mass spectrometers (QMS). The interface problems associated with the coupling of a QMS to a plasma device are discussed including: differential-pumping requirements, electromagnetic interferences from the plasma environment, the detection of surface-active species, ion source interactions, and calibration procedures. Example measurements are presented from process monitoring of glow discharge plasmas which are useful for cleaning and conditioning vacuum vessels

A comparison of hydrogen vs. helium glow discharge effects on fusion device first-wall conditioning

Hydrogen- and deuterium-fueled glow discharges are used for the initial conditioning of magnetic fusion device vacuum vessels following evacuation from atmospheric pressure. Hydrogenic glow discharge conditioning (GDC) significantly reduces the near-surface concentration of simple adsorbates, such as H/sub 2/O, CO, and CH/sub 4/, and lowers ion-induced desorption coefficients by typically three orders of magnitude. The time evolution of the residual gas production observed during hydrogen-glow discharge conditioning of the carbon first-wall structure of the TFTR device is similar to the time evolution observed during hydrogen GDC of the initial first-wall configuration in TFTR, which was primarily stainless steel. Recently, helium GDC has been investigated for several wall-conditioning tasks on a number of tokamaks including TFTR. Helium GDC shows negligible impurity removal with stainless steel walls. For impurity conditioning with carbon walls, helium GDC shows significant desorption of H/sub 2/O, CO, and CO/sub 2/; however, the total desorption yield is limited to the monolayer range. In addition, helium GDC can be used to displace hydrogen isotopes from the near-surface region of carbon first-walls in order to lower hydrogenic retention and recycling. 38 refs., 6 figs

Turbomolecular pump vacuum system for the Princeton Large Torus

A turbomolecular pump vacuum system has been designed and installed on the Princeton Large Torus (PLT). Four vertical shaft, oil-bearing, 1500 l/s turbomolecular pumps have been interfaced to the 6400 liter PLT Vacuum vessel to provide a net pumping speed of 3000 l/s for H/sub 2/. The particular requirements and problems of tokamak vacuum systems are enumerated. A vacuum control system is described which protects the vacuum vessel from contamination, and protects the turbomolecular pumps from damage under a variety of possible failure modes. The performance of the vacuum system is presented in terms of pumping speed measurements and residual gas behavior