A set of dedicated marker samples consisting of fine-grain graphite as substrate, an interlayer of 0.2–0.4 μm molybdenum (Mo) employed as marker, and a 5–10 μm thick carbon (C) marker layer on top were installed in Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) to investigate locally the C erosion and deposition. In this study, a set of five individual marker tiles, installed in a vertical divertor element of the test divertor unit in half-module 50, and exposed to about 40 min of plasma predominant in the standard magnetic divertor configuration in the first year of divertor operation in W7-X (OP1.2A), were retrieved from the vessel for post-mortem analysis. Picosecond laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (ps-LIBS) was applied on these marker tiles in order to determine the local erosion/deposition pattern caused by plasma impact. The general erosion/deposition pattern on the vertical target element was studied with the aid of depth-profiling by Mo line emission due to ps-LIBS with the number of applied laser pulses (355 nm, 2.3 J cm−2, 35 ps) at one probing location. Several potential asymmetry factors which avoid a perfect layer-by-layer ablation process in the laser ablations are proposed and discussed when a rough layered structure sample with a rough surface is analysed by the ps-LIBS technique. Thereby, a simulation model was developed to correct the measurement error of the ps-LIBS method caused by the non-perfect rectangle profile of the applied laser beam. The depth resolution of the applied ps-LIBS system was determined by quantification of the laser ablation rates of the different layers and the C substrate which were measured utilising profilometry and cross comparison with the thicknesses of the C and Mo marker layers determined by a combined focused ion beam and scanning electron microscopy technique. For the first time, the erosion/deposition pattern on the vertical target was mapped and quantified by ps-LIBS technique. A relatively wide net erosion zone with a poloidal extend of about 200 mm was identified which can be correlated to the main particle interaction zone at the magnetic strike-line of the dominantly applied standard magnetic divertor configuration. At the position of peak erosion, not only 7.6 × 1019 C atoms/cm2 but also 2 × 1018 Mo atoms/cm2 which results can be extrapolated to total 15 × 1019 C atoms/cm2, were eroded due to plasma fuel particle (H, He) and impurity (O, C) ion impact.

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A newly designed divertor Langmuir probe diagnostic system has been installed in a rare closed divertor of the HL-2A tokamak and steadily operated for the study of divertor physics involved edge-localized mode (ELM) mitigation, detachment and redistribution of heat flux, etc. Two sets of probe arrays including 274 probe tips were placed at two ports (approximately 180° separated toroidally), and the spatial and temporal resolutions of this measurement system could reach 6 mm and 1 s, respectively. A novel design of the ceramic isolation ring can ensure reliable electrical insulation property between the graphite tip and the copper substrate plate where plasma impurities and the dust are deposited into the gaps for a long experimental time. Meanwhile, the condition monitoring and mode conversion between single and triple probe of the probe system could be conveniently implemented via a remote control station. The preliminary experimental result shows that the divertor Langmuir probe system is capable of measuring the high spatiotemporal parameters involved the plasma density, electron temperature, particle flux as well as heat flux during the ELMy H-mode discharges.

The objective of the present study is to evaluate the potential applications of picosecond Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (ps-LIBS) in the nuclear fusion devices. The laser ablation behaviors and the spectral...