Simulation of gross and net erosion of high-Z materials in the DIII-D divertor

Abstract

The three-dimensional Monte Carlo code ERO has been used to simulate dedicated DIII-D experiments in which Mo and W samples with different sizes were exposed to controlled and well-diagnosed divertor plasma conditions to measure the gross and net erosion rates. Experimentally, the net erosion rate is significantly reduced due to the high local redeposition probability of eroded high-Z materials, which according to the modelling is mainly controlled by the electric field and plasma density within the Chodura sheath. Similar redeposition ratios were obtained from ERO modelling with three different sheath models for small angles between the magnetic field and the material surface, mainly because of their similar mean ionization lengths. The modelled redeposition ratios are close to the measured value. Decreasing the potential drop across the sheath can suppress both gross and net erosion because sputtering yield is decreased due to lower incident energy while the redeposition ratio is not reduced owing to the higher electron density in the Chodura sheath. Taking into account material mixing in the ERO surface model, the net erosion rate of high-Z materials is shown to be strongly dependent on the carbon impurity concentration in the background plasma; higher carbon concentration can suppress net erosion. The principal experimental results such as net erosion rate and profile and redeposition ratio are well reproduced by the ERO simulations.