No abstract

Three-dimensional spatiotemporal dynamics of detached helium plasma parameters along time, radius, and magnetic field were revealed in the linear device NAGDIS-II. To measure plasma parameters before and after the radial plasma ejection that was enhanced around the volume-recombining region, the conditional averaging technique was applied. The radial ejection was found to correlate with low-frequency changes of plasma-column parameters, which seemed to suppress the axial movement of the recombining region. Moreover, an azimuthal charge separation inside the ejected structure was observed, similar to the typical edge transport phenomenon: blobby plasma transport. The neutral flow effect was suggested as a candidate of the driving force.

To increase the accuracy of a particle, momentum, and energy source terms in the detached helium plasma simulation, rate coefficients with the collisional-radiative model were introduced into the fluid code LINear Divertor Analysis (LINDA). Obtained effective rate coefficients and related source terms were compared with those from the conventional empirical databases. It is shown that a high-density condition in future fusion devices causes larger deviation between the effective and the empirical source terms. One-dimensional detached plasma simulation indicated that the peak amplitude of the plasma density during the rollover is sensitive to the source term difference related to the recombination. This study additionally revealed that the heating effect in the three-body recombination process strongly affects the detached plasma formation and downstream plasma parameters.

Multipoint measurements were carried out by employing a microwave interferometer (MI) and a Langmuir probe (LP) in steady-state detached plasmas in the linear plasma device NAGDIS-II to reveal the structure of fluctuations along the magnetic field. We changed the LP position along the magnetic field while the MI was fixed at an upstream position. In addition, a fast framing camera was used to identify an azimuthal mode number, and the predominant mode number was identified as m = 1. By analyzing correlations between signals observed by the LP and the MI, it was found that a time delay of 10–20 kHz fluctuations gradually decreased toward the downstream direction. The results indicate a decrease in the rotation velocity in the E × B direction, and suggest that the 10–20 kHz fluctuation forms a spiral shape.

Dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) was applied to time-series snapshots of dynamic behavior in detached plasmas with a fast framing camera in the linear plasma device NAGDIS-II. The DMD extracted radial plasma ejection and Er×B rotation structures, which are associated with blob-like plasma structures. Besides, we investigated the influences from neutral gas pressure on the growth rates of the DMD modes. By increasing the neutral gas flow rate in the detached plasma, the growth rate of rotation mode became larger while the frequency decreased. The results indicated that the ejected plasma existed for a longer time in the periphery region. It is likely due to the fact that the ratio of the radial velocity to the rotation velocity of the ejected plasma decreased.