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Title: Oxidation of lithium plasma facing components and its effect on plasma performance in the lithium tokamak experiment-β

Journal Article · · Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion

The characteristics of lithium-coated plasma-facing components (PFCs) have been correlated with plasma performance on the lithium tokamak experiment-β (LTX-β). Previous experiments on LTX showed that the application of lithium to PFCs was needed to achieve higher performance discharges with flat electron temperature profiles and high edge temperatures. Samples that match the LTX-β PFCs were exposed to plasmas before and after PFCs were coated with lithium and transferred under vacuum to a surface analysis station. Measurements using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed that the primary surface constituent was lithium oxide. Earlier XPS analysis of lithium-coated PFCs on LTX was only able to show the presence of surface oxygen. The new XPS data from LTX-β have sufficient resolution to clearly identify lithium compounds for the first time, and enable them to be correlated with how lithium-coated PFCs can reduce impurities and retain hydrogen to reduce recycling.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Oakland Operations Office, Oakland, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344; AC02-09CH11466; AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1806444
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1787975
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-823590; 1036665; TRN: US2212761
Journal Information:
Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, Vol. 63, Issue 2; ISSN 0741-3335
Publisher:
IOP ScienceCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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