Controlled detachment and particle transport in the divertor plasma in TdeV

Abstract

At high densities, the plasma detaches from the outboard divertor plates in TdeV. The signatures are a reduction of the ion flux to the divertor plate, movement of the radiating zone from the plate toward the X-point, a pressure gradient between an ionization front and the target plate, and strong cross-field transport in the divertor. A toroidally-viewing TV imaging system allows us to observe local interactions between the divertor plasma and the different divertor plates. As the plasma detaches, the gas pressure in the divertor continues to rise, and there is evidence for molecular processes in the cold plasma near the divertor plates. Auxiliary heating increases the power and particle flow across the separatrix; our results suggest that detachment depends on the energy transported per particle. Simulations using the B2/EIRENE and DIVIMP codes give reasonable agreement with the measurements for the attached phase.