Table of contents

We studied the spatial evolution of the Fe-Ni plasma generated by the fundamental (1064 nm) and second (532 nm) harmonics of a Q-switched Nd: YAG laser. The experimentally observed line profiles of the neutral iron (Fe I) have been used to extract the plasma temperature (T_e) using the Boltzmann plot method, whereas the electron number density (N_e) has been determined from the Stark broadening. In addition, we studied the spatial behavior of T_e and N_e with the variation of laser energy for iron plasma by placing the target material (iron-nickel alloy) in air at atmospheric pressure for both modes of the Nd: YAG laser.

The q-profile control problem in the ramp-up phase of plasma discharges is considered in this work. The magnetic diffusion partial differential equation (PDE) models the dynamics of the poloidal magnetic flux profile, which is used in this work to formulate a PDE-constrained optimization problem under a quasi-static assumption. The minimum surface theory and constrained numeric optimization are then applied to achieve suboptimal solutions. Since the transient dynamics is pre-given by the minimum surface theory, then this method can dramatically accelerate the solution process. In order to be robust under external uncertainties in real implementations, PID (proportional-integral-derivative) controllers are used to force the actuators to follow the computational input trajectories. It has the potential to implement in real-time for long time discharges by combining this method with the magnetic equilibrium update.

Neutron diagnostics, including flux and energy spectrum measurements, have been applied on the experimental advanced superconducting tokamak (EAST). The absolute calibration of neutron yields has been achieved by a calculation method using the Monte Carlo automatic modeling (MCAM) system and the Monte Carlo N-Particles (MCNP) code. Since the neutron yield is closely related with the ion density and temperature, it is a good measure of plasma performance, especially the wave heating effect. In ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF) experiments, the increase in the ion temperature derived by the neutron yield indicates an effective plasma heating. Minority protons damp a large fraction of the total wave power, and then transfer part of the energy to deuterium by collisions. Neutron spectrum measurements also indicate that no tail is created by high energy deuterons during ICRF heating. However, the ion temperature derived by the neutron yield is consistent with the result by using a poloidal X-ray imaging crystal spectrometer (PXCS), showing a reliable transport calculation.

The neutron flux monitor (NFM), as a significant diagnostic system in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), will play an important role in the readings of a series of key parameters in the fusion reaction process. As the core of the main electronic system of the NFM, the neutron-gamma pulse shape discrimination (n-γ PSD) can distinguish the neutron pulse from the gamma pulse and other disturbing pulses according to the thresholds of the rising time and the amplitude pre-installed on the board, the double timing point CFD method is used to get the rising time of the pulse. The n-γ PSD can provide an accurate neutron count.

A fundamental difference of very high intensity laser interaction with plasmas from solid targets appears with lasing at picosecond (ps) pulse durations in contrast to pulses of nanoseconds (ns). This can be seen from the more than 10,000 times higher acceleration with ps pulse durations than with thermal pressure determined interaction. A ps pulse duration produces instantly acting high-efficiency nonlinear (ponderomotive) electrodynamic force dominated acceleration in contrast to heating with longer pulses. The ps pulses accelerate high-density plasma blocks. This can be used by a new scheme of side-on driven laser fusion with generating a flame ignition in uncompressed fusion fuel of solid density resulting in a reaction velocity of more than 2000 km/s for DT.

This study has measured the density-normalized effective ionization coefficients (α−η)/N, the electron drift velocity V_e and the diffusion coefficient D_L in nitrous oxide (N₂O) using a pulsed Townsend technique. The range of the overall density-normalized electric field strength E/N is from 100 Td to 400 Td (1 Td=10⁻¹⁷ V·cm²). From the above plots of (α−η)/N, we have derived the limiting field strength, (E/N)_lim ≈ 150 Td, which is the value of E/N at which (α−η)/N = 0.

In this work, the surface modification of poly (1, 4-phenylene-cis-benzobisoxazole) (PBO) fibers by O₂/Ar coaxial atmospheric dielectric barrier discharge was investigated, as well as the interfacial adhesion properties of modified PBO fibers/epoxy composites. The results indicated that the contact angle decreased remarkably from 84.7° to 63.5° after 3 min O₂/Ar plasma treatment. SEM and AFM images showed that the surface of the treated PBO fibers became rather rough. In addition, XPS results suggested that the polar functional group (O=C—O) was introduced on the surface of the treated PBO fiber. The interfacial adhesion test showed that the interfacial shear strength (IFSS) and the interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) increased significantly by 63.54% and 130%, respectively. Moreover, the excellent tensile property of the PBO fibres was well preserved.

A grazing incidence flat-field spectrograph using a concave grating was constructed to measure extreme ultraviolet (EUV) emission from a CO₂ laser-produced tin plasma throughout the wavelength region of 5 nm to 20 nm for lithography. Spectral efficiency of the EUV emission around 13.5 nm from plate, cavity, and thin foil tin targets was studied. By translating the focusing lens along the laser axis, the dependence of EUV spectra on the amount of defocus was investigated. The results showed that the spectral efficiency was higher for the cavity target in comparison to the plate or foil target, while it decreased with an increase in the defocus distance. The source's spectra and the EUV emission intensity normalized to the incident pulse energy at 45° from the target normal were characterized for the in-band (2% of bandwidth) region as a function of laser energy spanning from 46 mJ to 600 mJ for the pure tin plate target. The energy normalized EUV emission was found to increase with the increasing incident pulse energy. It reached the optimum value for the laser energy of around 343 mJ, after which it dropped rapidly.

An atmospheric non-thermal plasma jet was developed for sterilizing the Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). The plasma jet was generated by dielectric barrier discharge (DBD), which was characterized by electrical and optical diagnostics. The survival curves of the bacteria showed that the plasma jet could effectively inactivate 10⁶ cells of S. aureus within 120 seconds and the sterilizing efficiency depended critically on the discharge parameter of the applied voltage. It was further confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) that the cell morphology was seriously damaged by the plasma treatment. The plasma sterilization mechanism of S. aureus was attributed to the active species of OH, N₂⁺ and O, which were generated abundantly in the plasma jet and characterized by OES. Our findings suggest a convenient and low-cost way for sterilization and inactivation of bacteria.

The transfer matrix method is used to study the effect of the permittivity profile on the reflectivity of a one dimensional plasma photonic crystal having exponentially graded material. The analysis shows that the proposed structure works as a perfect mirror within a certain frequency range. These frequency ranges can be completely controlled by the permittivity profile of a graded dielectric layer. As expected we observed that these frequency ranges are also controlled by plasma parameters.

During the last decades many researchers have been occupied with other plasma applications apart from the big challenge which the thermonuclear fusion poses. Many experiments have been carried out on the plasma behavior in contact with a solid surface; when the surface material consists of chemical compounds (e.g. oxides of metals), then the plasma chemistry takes place. The present paper contains the final experimental and theoretical work of Plasma Laboratory at "Demokritos", which consists of an elaboration of plasma sheath parameters adapted to experimental conditions, a suitable choice of plasma gases (either H₂ or N₂), and an electric potential current enforcement on objects. Additionally, a brief theory is given to explain the results, with a short reference to both boundary phenomena in thermonuclear reactors and low pressure plasma of glow discharges, so as to reveal the similarities and differences of these two cases. An extensive examination of the treated objects by X-ray diffraction method (XRD) gives results in agreement with the theoretical predictions. Using this improvement on plasma restoration system, (a combination of electric current on metallic object into suitable plasma), it is shown that better results can be achieved on the cleaning and conservation of archaeological objects.

In this work, the effect of a low-temperature plasma on the zeta potential of cotton fabric was studied. The silver particle absorption on cotton fabric when modified by a low-temperature plasma was also investigated. The modification consisted of plasma pre-functionalization followed by a one-step wet treatment with silver nitrate solution. The process was performed in a low-temperature plasma medium, using a magnetron sputtering device. Oxygen and nitrogen were used as working gases in the system, and the results were compared. After preparing the samples, the zeta potentials of the untreated and plasma-treated cotton under a constant pH value solution were estimated and compared. Also, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to examine the functional groups of the corresponding samples. The amounts of silver absorption on plasma treated and untreated cotton were examined using the energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) method. The results show that the amount of zeta potential for the nitrogen plasma treated sample is less and the absorption of silver particles by cotton can be increased strongly with nitrogen plasma treatment.

Optimization studies of plasma smelting of red mud were carried out. Reduction of the dried red mud fines was done in an extended arc plasma reactor to recover the pig iron. Lime grit and low ash metallurgical (LAM) coke were used as the flux and reductant, respectively. 2-level factorial design was used to study the influence of all parameters on the responses. Response surface modeling was done with the data obtained from statistically designed experiments. Metal recovery at optimum parameters was found to be 79.52%.

Ilmenite was reduced through microwave plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition with continuously flowing hydrogen and methane gas. The reduction products were analyzed by XRD and SEM technology, and the component products were TiO₂-Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) composite powders. The reduction process was in good agreement with the Jander equation. Compared with other reduction process by kinetics analysis, microwave plasma could significantly facilitate the reduction process at low temperature.

The transformer core snubber (CS), as one of the most important components in the EAST (experimental advanced superconducting tokamak) NBI (neutral beam injector) system, is designed to limit grid damage and protect the ion source during periods of electrical breakdowns. A transformer core snubber is analyzed in detail in this paper. Several kinds of soft magnetic cores are presented and compared. With analysis and experiment on the basic characteristics of the cores, the most suitable materials are suggested. The circuit simulation code is established which could simulate faulty conditions with concentrated and distributed CS concepts. Based on the above work, an ion source CS is developed with series type of distributed topology. The CS has been subjected to experimental validation at 80 kV with a peak short-current of approximately 400 A in a real NBI system, which proves the accuracy of the adopted assumptions and the analysis method.

An Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ECRH) launcher for four-beam injection has been installed on the HL-2A tokamak and used in plasma heating experiments. By the launcher, four EC wave beams can be injected into the tokamak through a 0350 mm port, which are generated from 2 sets of 68 GHz/1 s and 2 sets of 68 GHz/1.5 s gyrotron tubes manufactured by GYCOM, with maximum output power of 500 kW for each. In this paper, the properties of the EC beam in the launcher and plasma are presented: at the centre of the cross section of the tokamak, the beam radius is 31.7 mm; thermal analysis of a 3D model indicates that the peak temperature increase would be only 30°C at the mirror surface for a 500 kW/1 s pulse; ray-tracing calculation predicts satisfactory power deposition. In the plasma experiment, six beams including four beams from this launcher and two from another launcher have been injected simultaneously. Besides, obtaining ELM-y H-mode discharges, the ECRH system shows reliability and stability of the launcher functions.

The NBI (Neutral Beam Inject) system of EAST has two deuterium beam lines, in which beam power is 4 MW and energy is 80 keV. To study the neutral beam shinethrough power loss, the physics processes of neutral beam attenuation in plasma are described and simulated by the code ONETWO/NUBEAM. The simulated input plasma parameter forms are tested through curve fitting of measured shinethrough in DIII-D. The power density distribution of shinethrough is obtained by analytical governing expression. The surface temperature rise testing for a copper target is also discussed.

Plasma-surface interaction experiments on TiN coated stainless steel 316L (S.S.316L) using a plasma focus (PF) device have been performed in an attempt to investigate whether we can use the hardness property of TiN against erosion to increase the lifetime of the mirrors used in plasma diagnostics equipment. Firstly, two similar S.S.316L samples were chosen for this purpose. One of the samples was coated with TiN by using a PF device, while the other was kept intact as a reference for investigating the effect of TiN coating. Then, in order to study the coating effects, these samples were exposed to 200 shots of hydrogen plasma with a total duration of 7 s in a tokamak. Before and after exposure, samples were analyzed by using atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and a spectrophotometer. It was found that the uncoated sample was severely damaged, its reflection dropped significantly, and it developed some cracks and lines, while no significant change was observed on the surface characteristic of the coated sample. Moreover the weight loss of the uncoated sample was higher in comparison to the coated one. Therefore the results of this experiment showed that the coating of S.S.316L by TiN using a PF device is a useful method to strengthen it against plasma erosion and with further optimization it could possibly be used in preparing plasma diagnostics mirrors.