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Title: Wave induced density modification in RF sheaths and close to wave launchers

Abstract

With the return to full metal walls - a necessary step towards viable fusion machines - and due to the high power densities of current-day ICRH (Ion Cyclotron Resonance Heating) or RF (radio frequency) antennas, there is ample renewed interest in exploring the reasons for wave-induced sputtering and formation of hot spots. Moreover, there is experimental evidence on various machines that RF waves influence the density profile close to the wave launchers so that waves indirectly influence their own coupling efficiency. The present study presents a return to first principles and describes the wave-particle interaction using a 2-time scale model involving the equation of motion, the continuity equation and the wave equation on each of the time scales. Through the changing density pattern, the fast time scale dynamics is affected by the slow time scale events. In turn, the slow time scale density and flows are modified by the presence of the RF waves through quasilinear terms. Although finite zero order flows are identified, the usual cold plasma dielectric tensor - ignoring such flows - is adopted as a first approximation to describe the wave response to the RF driver. The resulting set of equations is composed of linear andmore » nonlinear equations and is tackled in 1D in the present paper. Whereas the former can be solved using standard numerical techniques, the latter require special handling. At the price of multiple iterations, a simple ’derivative switch-on’ procedure allows to reformulate the nonlinear problem as a sequence of linear problems. Analytical expressions allow a first crude assessment - revealing that the ponderomotive potential plays a role similar to that of the electrostatic potential arising from charge separation - but numerical implementation is required to get a feeling of the full dynamics. A few tentative examples are provided to illustrate the phenomena involved.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2]
  1. Laboratory for Plasma Physics, ERM/KMS, EUROfusion Consortium Member, Brussels (Belgium)
  2. CEA, IRFM, F-13108 Saint-Paul-Lez-Durance (France)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22496198
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
AIP Conference Proceedings
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 1689; Journal Issue: 1; Conference: 21. topical conference on radio frequency power in plasmas, Lake Arrowhead, CA (United States), 27-29 Apr 2015; Other Information: (c) 2015 EURATOM; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0094-243X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS; ANTENNAS; APPROXIMATIONS; COLD PLASMA; CONTINUITY EQUATIONS; DENSITY; DIELECTRIC TENSOR; EQUATIONS OF MOTION; HOT SPOTS; ICR HEATING; METALS; MODIFICATIONS; NONLINEAR PROBLEMS; ONE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS; PARTICLE INTERACTIONS; PONDEROMOTIVE FORCE; POWER DENSITY; RADIOWAVE RADIATION; SCALE MODELS; SWITCHES; WAVE EQUATIONS

Citation Formats

Van Eester, D., E-mail: d.van.eester@fz-juelich.de, Crombé, K., Department of Applied Physics, Ghent University, Ghent, and Lu, Ling-Feng. Wave induced density modification in RF sheaths and close to wave launchers. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1063/1.4936493.
Van Eester, D., E-mail: d.van.eester@fz-juelich.de, Crombé, K., Department of Applied Physics, Ghent University, Ghent, & Lu, Ling-Feng. Wave induced density modification in RF sheaths and close to wave launchers. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4936493
Van Eester, D., E-mail: d.van.eester@fz-juelich.de, Crombé, K., Department of Applied Physics, Ghent University, Ghent, and Lu, Ling-Feng. 2015. "Wave induced density modification in RF sheaths and close to wave launchers". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4936493.
@article{osti_22496198,
title = {Wave induced density modification in RF sheaths and close to wave launchers},
author = {Van Eester, D., E-mail: d.van.eester@fz-juelich.de and Crombé, K. and Department of Applied Physics, Ghent University, Ghent and Lu, Ling-Feng},
abstractNote = {With the return to full metal walls - a necessary step towards viable fusion machines - and due to the high power densities of current-day ICRH (Ion Cyclotron Resonance Heating) or RF (radio frequency) antennas, there is ample renewed interest in exploring the reasons for wave-induced sputtering and formation of hot spots. Moreover, there is experimental evidence on various machines that RF waves influence the density profile close to the wave launchers so that waves indirectly influence their own coupling efficiency. The present study presents a return to first principles and describes the wave-particle interaction using a 2-time scale model involving the equation of motion, the continuity equation and the wave equation on each of the time scales. Through the changing density pattern, the fast time scale dynamics is affected by the slow time scale events. In turn, the slow time scale density and flows are modified by the presence of the RF waves through quasilinear terms. Although finite zero order flows are identified, the usual cold plasma dielectric tensor - ignoring such flows - is adopted as a first approximation to describe the wave response to the RF driver. The resulting set of equations is composed of linear and nonlinear equations and is tackled in 1D in the present paper. Whereas the former can be solved using standard numerical techniques, the latter require special handling. At the price of multiple iterations, a simple ’derivative switch-on’ procedure allows to reformulate the nonlinear problem as a sequence of linear problems. Analytical expressions allow a first crude assessment - revealing that the ponderomotive potential plays a role similar to that of the electrostatic potential arising from charge separation - but numerical implementation is required to get a feeling of the full dynamics. A few tentative examples are provided to illustrate the phenomena involved.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4936493},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22496198}, journal = {AIP Conference Proceedings},
issn = {0094-243X},
number = 1,
volume = 1689,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Dec 10 00:00:00 EST 2015},
month = {Thu Dec 10 00:00:00 EST 2015}
}