Deuterium Beam Research Articles

Neutron diagnostic system at the Globus-M2 tokamak

A neutron diagnostic system was developed at the Ioffe Institute as part of the Globus-M2 tokamak to optimize NBI heating conditions and evaluate heating efficiency. The system contains two compact neutron spectrometers based on the liquid organic scintillator BC-501A and two gas-discharge counters based on a 10B isotope. The BC-501A spectrometers were calibrated by measuring neutron emission produced in a 9Be(α,n)12C nuclear reaction on the cyclotron facility at the Ioffe Institute. In addition, in situ calibrations of the system, including the neutron spectrometers and the gas-discharge counters, was carried out using an Am–Be neutron source to provide accurate measurements of the total neutron yield from the plasma of the Globus-M2 tokamak. During the plasma experiments at the Globus-M2 tokamak, a deuterium beam was injected into the deuterium plasma that causes a yield of the DD-neutrons with ∼2.45 MeV energy. The neutron spectrometry diagnostic system was used to provide neutron measurements and detect the DD-neutrons in these experiments. The neutron yield and the DD-reaction rate during plasma discharges were evaluated. The energy distributions of neutrons emitted from plasma during discharges with neutron beam injection were reconstructed from the measured neutron spectra.

Guided acceleration of nanoparticles by laser irradiated parallel gold nanorods

Laser irradiated parallel gold nanorods with interspersed deuterium nanoparticles are shown to offer guided acceleration of nanoparticles. The laser pulse of intensity exceeding 1018 W cm−2 at 1 μm wavelength and pulse duration ∼30 fs causes full ionization of nanoparticles and high state ionization of gold atoms and pushes out the free electrons via the ponderomotive force. The charged nanorods have an electric field that has transverse component towards the axis of symmetry and axial field outwards. Thus the nanoparticles are accelerated axially while confined transversely. Deuterium beam of a few MeV energy can be produced by this technique.

Development of a 56 GHz ECH system for deuterium plasma experiments of a low magnetic field in LHD

We have completed establishing a 56GHz electron cyclotron heating (ECH) system with a new gyrotron to realize high β plasma experiments with pure deuterium gas in the Large Helical Device (LHD). This new ECH system made it possible to conduct the relatively low magnetic field experiment around 1T with pure deuterium gas because tangential neutral beam injection (NBI) systems of deuterium beams did not have enough power to initiate plasma in the LHD. We succeeded in initiating and sustaining pure deuterium plasma in the magnetic field of 1T by using the 56GHz ECH system and the deuterium NBI (D-NBI). This new ECH system contributed to expanding the new experimental regime in the LHD.

Doppler Spectroscopy Measurements of Neutral Hydrogen–Deuterium Beam

Doppler Spectroscopy Measurements of Neutral Hydrogen–Deuterium Beam

Designing and commissioning pre-analysis system for intense D-D/D-T neutron generator

An intense accelerator-based D-D/D-T neutron generator, with neutron yields of 6 × 1010 n/s due to the D-D reaction and 6 × 1012 n/s due to the D-T reaction, is being developed at Lanzhou University in China. The 2.45 GHz electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source and the pre-analysis system, as the front injector for the accelerator tube of the neutron generator, are designed to provide a 35 mA deuterium beam for neutron production and a 50 mA proton beam for commissioning. The pre-analysis system consists of a solenoid, a steering magnet, a vacuum chamber, a dipole magnet, three quadrupole magnets, a beam dump, and a Faraday cup. The ion source and pre-analysis system were completed a trial operation, and the intensity of the proton beam measured at the end of the pre-analysis system was higher than 50 mA when the hydrogen ion beam current extracted from the ECR ion source was greater than 70 mA.

Mapping of azimuthal B-fields in Z-pinch plasmas using Z-pinch-driven ion deflectometry

B-field measurements are crucial for the study of high-temperature and high-energy-density plasmas. A successful diagnostic method, ion deflectometry (radiography), is commonly employed to measure MGauss magnetic fields in laser-produced plasmas. It is based on the detection of multi-MeV ions, which are deflected in B-fields and measure their path integral. Until now, protons accelerated via laser–target interactions from a point-like source have been utilized for the study of Z-pinch plasmas. In this paper, we present the results of the first Z-pinch-driven ion deflectometry experiments using MeV deuterium beams accelerated within a hybrid gas-puff Z-pinch plasma on the GIT-12 pulse power generator. In our experimental setup, an inserted fiducial deflectometry grid (D-grid) separates the imploding plasma into two regions of the deuteron source and the studied azimuthal B-fields. The D-grid is backlighted by accelerated ions, and its shadow imprinted into the deuteron beams demonstrates ion deflections. In contrast to the employment of the conventional point-like ion source, in our configuration, the ions are emitted from the extensive and divergent source inside the Z-pinch. Instead of having the point ion source, deflected ions are selected via a point projection by a pinhole camera before their detection. Radial distribution of path-integrated B-fields near the axis (within a 15 mm radius) is obtained by analysis of experimental images (deflectograms). Moreover, we present a 2D topological map of local azimuthal B-fields B(r,z) via numerical retrieval of the experimental deflectogram.

First results of SPIDER beam characterization through the visible tomography

SPIDER, the full-size prototype of the negative ion source for future ITER Heating and Current Drive, is equipped with a tomographic diagnostic to characterize the negative hydrogen (and deuterium) beam. The main goal of the tomographic system is the reconstruction of the beam emission pattern, which is proportional to the beam density, by assuming a uniform background gas, through the measurement of the beam emitted light along a sufficiently large number of lines-of-sight (LoSs), to study the beam homogeneity and divergence. Currently, 11 2D visible cameras observe the beam on a plane at a distance of 400 mm from the last grid of the accelerator, all around the beam; sensors of different sizes with different lenses are used, to maximize the resolution despite the limited number of points of view. The cameras are calibrated both in intensity and spatially and their fans of LoSs have been reconstructed. Once calibrated, the experimental data are compared with the simulated ones, simultaneously for all the cameras in order to have a complete profile of the extracted beam. Simultaneous Algebraic Reconstruction Technique (SART) algorithm as inversion technique is used to reconstruct for the first time the 2D beam emissivity profile, and it is applied to study the spatial uniformity of the beam as a function of the filter field and the extraction voltage.

Stability of beta-induced Alfvén eigenmodes (BAE) in DIII-D

Although the stability of ellipticity, toroidal and reversed-shear Alfvén eigenmodes (EAE, TAE, RSAE) are relatively well understood, less is known about the stability of lower-frequency modes such as the beta-induced Alfvén eigenmode (BAE) but, because they are often unstable in present devices and are implicated in fast-ion transport, understanding their stability is vital. BAE stability is studied in primarily weak or reversed shear DIII-D plasmas with sub-Alfvénic deuterium beams. Modes are classified based on electron cyclotron emission, beam emission spectroscopy, magnetics, and interferometer data. The study is limited to the initial two seconds of the discharge, where the evolving q profile provides an effective scan of the dependence of stability upon q. In a dedicated experiment, BAEs are unstable at times in the discharge when the minimum of the safety factor q min is close to a rational number. The observed mode frequencies are usually close to analytic estimates of the BAE accumulation point and the eigenfunction peaks in the vicinity of q min. Unstable BAEs usually occur in bursts that chirp rapidly in frequency. To isolate the importance of thermal and beam gradients in driving the modes, the beam and electron cyclotron heating power is altered for 50–100 ms durations in reproducible discharges. As expected from the resonance condition, BAEs depend sensitively on the beam power and injection geometry. Modes only persist for ∼25 ms because the anisotropic beam population only interacts strongly with the modes over a relatively narrow range of q. A database of over 1000 beam-heated discharges shows that BAEs are more likely to be unstable when the poloidal beta exceeds 0.5.

Energy gain of beam-plasma D–T reaction in the presence of ICRH

A model for studying parametric dependence of the local energy gain (the ratio of fusion power density to absorbed power density) of a beam-plasma fusion reaction is proposed. It assumes that beam ions are produced by Neutral Beam Injection (NBI) and accelerated by Ion Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ICRH). The model includes several relations (for the local fusion energy gain, fusion power, and ICRH power absorbed) which employ a beam energy distribution function found analytically. The influence of ICRH on the beam ions is described by a quasilinear theory. Specific calculations are carried out for a deuterium beam with the ions born at energy Eb=100 keV and a tritium plasma. It is found that only those scenarios for which ICRH accelerates mainly slightly thermalized injected ions can increase the beam-plasma energy gain during NBI + ICRH significantly. In contrast, when the minimum energy of the ions affected by ICRH is much lower than the birth energy, ICRH does not enlarge the energy gain. On the other hand, fusion power increases due to ICRH, independently of the heating scheme. It is shown that the NBI energy structure is a factor which requires the maximum energy of injected ions in a certain range (150–200 keV when deuterium is injected into in a tritium plasma) for the beam-plasma energy gain to exceed unity significantly in both NBI and NBI + ICRH cases.

Visible cameras as a non-invasive diagnostic to study negative ion beam properties.

Beam tomography is a non-invasive diagnostic that allows us to reconstruct the beam emission profile by measuring the light emitted by the beam particles interacting with the background gas, along an elevated number of lines of sight, which is related to the beam density by assuming a uniform background gas. In the framework of the heating and current drive of future nuclear fusion reactors, negative ion beams of hydrogen and deuterium are required for neutral beam injectors (NBIs) due to their elevated neutralization efficiency at high energy (in the MeV range). Beside the beam energy, beam divergence and homogeneity are two critical aspects in the design of future NBIs. In this paper, the characterization of the negative ion beam of the negative ion source NIO1 (a small-sized radio-frequency driven negative ion source, with 130 mA of total extracted H- current and 60 kV of maximum acceleration) using the tomographic system composed of two visible cameras is presented. The Simultaneous Algebraic Reconstruction Technique (SART) is used as an inversion technique to reconstruct the 3 × 3 matrix of the extracted beamlets, and the beam divergence and homogeneity are studied. The results are compared with the measurements of the other diagnostics and correlated with the source physics. The suitability of visible cameras as a diagnostics system for the characterization of the NIO1 negative ion beam is a small-scale experimental demonstration of the possibility to reconstruct more complicated multi-beamlet profiles, resulting in a powerful diagnostic for large NBIs.

Measurements of neutron fluxes from tokamak plasmas using a compact neutron spectrometer.

A compact neutron spectrometer based on the BC-501A liquid organic scintillator was applied to neutron measurements at the TUMAN-3M tokamak. The spectrometer was calibrated using measurements from the ion beam of the cyclotron accelerator. Neutron spectra were measured during discharges using a neutral deuterium beam injection into the TUMAN-3M D-plasma. An energy distribution of the neutrons from the plasma that hit the spectrometer was obtained from the measured BC-501A instrumental spectra by the DeGaSum code using detector response functions obtained in the course of the calibration. This allowed for the estimation of the 2.45MeV neutron yield and the evaluation of both the time evolution of the DD fusion rate and the characteristic time of the injected deuterium slowing down in discharges with neutral beam injection heating.

Initial Results of Hydrogen and Deuterium Beam Ion Simultaneous Transport due to Toroidal Alfvén Eigenmode in the Large Helical Device

Initial Results of Hydrogen and Deuterium Beam Ion Simultaneous Transport due to Toroidal Alfvén Eigenmode in the Large Helical Device

High frequency Alfvén eigenmodes detected with ion-cyclotron-emission diagnostics during NBI and ICRF heated plasmas on the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak

The paper presents the first reported observation of high frequency Alfvén eigenmode excitation on the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak. The mode is driven in a novel way using radio frequency (RF) wave acceleration of either beam-injected deuterium ions or thermal He-3 minority ions in a three-ion heating scenario. In the case of beam ion acceleration, the instability only appears during deuteron acceleration at the third beam ion cyclotron harmonic (wave frequency ω = 3ΩD where ΩD is the deuterium cyclotron frequency), as the mode is not detected during the more commonly used second harmonic/minority heating scenario or in the absence of beam-injected ions. The mode frequency is around 0.6–0.7ΩD, where ΩD is evaluated in the low-field side plasma edge, and tracks the magnetic field B and the edge plasma electron density ne via the Alfvénic relation ω ∼ B ne −1/2. The mode does not appear as a single frequency wave but as a bundle of closely spaced (in frequency) sub-modes. When the parallel beam ion velocity component is increased, the sub-mode frequency spacing is observed to decrease, possibly due to a change in the eigenmode structure. Under certain conditions, typically in discharges with a relatively low plasma current, IP < 0.7 MA, the mode appears to be driven directly by sub-Alfvénic deuterium beam ions. Absolute measurements of the mode amplitude show that at least 1% of the beam-injected power is transferred non-collisionally to the instability. While this is too low for practical alpha-channeling applications, discharges are planned with the aim of increasing the level of power transferred non-collisionally between fast ions and the instability.

Two-dimensional beam emission spectroscopy for hydrogen isotope negative neutral beam in Large Helical Device

A new beam emission spectroscopy system that has improved lines of sight is installed in the Large Helical Device (LHD), and routine measurement has been started in the 21st LHD experiment campaign in 2019–2020. The new system is optimized for hydrogen isotope experiments by equipping a rotatable large-diameter interference filter to be compatible with either the hydrogen or the deuterium beam emission component. An avalanche photo diode detector array having 8 × 8 pixels is used for obtaining a radial–vertical image of electron density fluctuation covering the mid-radius to the plasma periphery. Spatial resolution and wavenumber cutoff are derived from equilibrium reconstruction and plasma kinetic profiles. Obtained fluctuation data is presented for a low field high beta discharge. The spatiotemporal structure of the fluctuations is clearly shown by Fourier correlation analyses.

Validation of the imaging neutral particle analyzer in nearly MHD quiescent plasmas using injected beam ions on DIII-D

The imaging neutral particle analyzer (INPA) is a scintillator-based diagnostic that provides energy and radially resolved measurements of confined fast ions. To verify operation, understanding and modeling of the diagnostic performance, distributions of deuterium beam ions in low density, nearly MHD-quiescent plasmas are measured on the DIII-D tokamak using the INPA. The distribution is altered by changing the pitch-angle scattering rate with electron cyclotron heating (ECH). Experimental images are mostly reproduced with simulation of core fast ions charge exchanging with injected beam and edge cold neutrals in classical cases. Image comparisons between the experiment and simulation show agreement with less than 25% discrepancies near the beam injection energy of 50 keV. Other strong passive signals, observed in a localized region on the image, are suggested to come from charge exchange between cold neutrals and fast ions around the plasma boundary.

Optimization and first tests of the experimental setup to investigate the double-polarized DD-fusion reactions

The study of DD reactions, especially with polarized reactants, helps for better understanding of the processes taking place in nuclear astrophysics and fusion reactors. At PNPI Gatchina, Russia, the PolFusion experiment with crossing of two polarized beams, i.e. a deuteron and a deuterium beam, is able to measure angular distributions of the differential cross section and, therefore, the spin-correlations coefficients with different combinations of the adjustable nuclear polarization of both beams with a center-of-mass energy between 10 to 100 keV. Some improvements and fine-tuning of the polarized ion source are performed and presented. The atomic beam source for the jet target has been modified as well. An unpolarized experiment with a 10 keV ion beam and heavy water vapor as a target has been carried out with successful registration of the fusion products.

Production of HD Molecules in Definite Hyperfine Substates.

Polarized atomic beam sources have been in operation for many years to produce either nuclear polarized atomic hydrogen or deuterium beams. In recent experiments, such a source was used to polarize both isotopes independently at the same time. By recombination of the atoms, hydrogen-deuterium molecules with all possible nuclear spin combinations can be created. Those spin isomers are useful for further applications, like precision spectroscopy, as polarized targets for laser-particle acceleration, polarized fuel for fusion reactors, or as an option for future measurements of electric dipole moments.

Search for tritium in air in a room equipped with 14 MeV neutron generator with tritiated targets

Eight documented tritiated targets were stored, as well as some very old targets with unknown activity, in a room equipped with an ING-114 14 MeV fast neutron generator. When the neutron generator was running, the tritiated targets were irradiated with a deuterium beam. The aim of this work is to determine the tritium content in the room's atmosphere, as well as the radiation exposure of workers in the room. In this study, isotopic exchange was assumed. This means that tritium from the targets diffused into the air, where it reacted immediately with oxygen particles to form vapour. These vapour molecules diffused into open vessels containing deionized water (50 ml in 120 ml plastic containers). Fifty vessels were arranged along the length (every 0.50 m) and width (every 1 m) of the room. Additionally, there were three vessels placed in the room for shorter periods (5, 7, and 12 days) together with a vessel that was exposed to the tritium for the full duration of the experiment (18 days) to determine the saturation curve. Based on the measured tritium contents, a map of the spatial distribution of tritium in the room was created. The results were used to calculate the radiation dose for a person working in the room and showed no significant contribution to the approved average annual dose for workers.

High-Current Pulsed ECR Ion Sources

At the present time, some ECR ion sources use a high-frequency powerful microwave radiation of modern gyrotrons for plasma heating. Due to high radiation power, such systems mainly operate in a pulsed mode. This type of ECR ion sources was developed at the Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IAP RAS), and most experimental research was performed at the SMIS 37 facility, at which 37 gyrotrons with 37.5- and 75-GHz frequencies and 100- and 200-kW maximum powers, respectively, were used for plasma production. Such heating microwaves allow creating plasma with unique parameters: electron density >1013 cm–3, electron temperature of 50–300 eV, and ion temperature of about 1 eV. The principal difference between these systems and conventional ECR sources is a so-called quasi-gas-dynamic regime of plasma confinement. In accordance with the confinement regime, such sources have been called “gas-dynamic ECR sources.” Typically, plasma lifetime in such systems is about several tens of microseconds, which, in combination with the high plasma density, leads to the formation of plasma fluxes from a trap with a density of up to 1–10 A/cm2. The possibility of production of multiply charged ion beams (nitrogen, argon) and proton (or deuterium) beams with currents of up to a few hundred mA and normalized rms emittance of about 0.1π mm mrad was demonstrated. The next step in the research is a transition to continuous wave operation. For this purpose, a new experimental facility is under construction at the IAP RAS. A future source will utilize 28- and 37.5-GHz gyrotron radiation for plasma heating. An overview of the obtained results and the status of the new source development is presented.

Toroidal Alfvén Modes in the Plasma of the Globus-M Spherical Tokamak

Results of experimental studies of toroidal Alfven eigenmodes (TAEs) in the Globus-M spherical tokamak (R = 36 cm, a = 24 cm) are reported. The experiments were carried out in a wide range of plasma parameters at a magnetic field of up to 0.5 T and plasma current of up to 250 kA. Auxiliary plasma heating was performed by tangential injection of a deuterium beam with a power of Pb= 0.75 MW and particle energy of Eb = 28 keV into deuterium plasma. The experiments have shown that the TAE-induced loss of fast particles decreases with increasing plasma current and magnetic field. Using multifrequency Doppler backscattering diagnostics, it is established that the TAEs are localized at the plasma periphery. Results of simulations of the Alfven continuum and TAE structure by means of the modified KINX and CAXE codes agree satisfactory with the experimental data on the TAE frequencies and localization.