This paper presents a laboratory-scale experimental investigation about the laser cleaning of diagnostic first mirrors from tokamak-like contaminants, made of oxidized tungsten compounds with different properties and morphology. The re-deposition of contaminants sputtered from a tokamak first wall onto first mirrors' surfaces could dramatically decrease their reflectivity in an unacceptable way for the proper functioning of plasma diagnostic systems. The laser cleaning technique has been proposed as a solution to tackle this issue. In this work, pulsed laser deposition was exploited to produce rhodium films functional as first mirrors and to deposit onto them contaminants designed to be realistic in reproducing materials expected to be re-deposited on first mirrors in a tokamak environment. The same laser system was also used to perform laser cleaning experiments, exploiting a sample handling procedure that allows one to clean some cm2 in a few minutes. Cleaning effectiveness was evaluated in terms of specular reflectance recovery and mirror surface integrity. The effect of different laser wavelengths (λ= 1064, 266 nm) on the cleaning process was also addressed, as well as the impact of multiple contamination/cleaning cycles on the process outcome. A satisfactory recovery of pristine mirror reflectance (≥90%) was obtained in the vis-NIR spectral range, avoiding at the same time mirror damaging. The results here presented show the potential of the laser cleaning technique as an attractive solution for the cleaning of diagnostic first mirrors.

Laser cleaning of diagnostic mirrors from tungsten-oxygen tokamak-like contaminants

MAFFINI, ALESSANDRO;DELLASEGA, DAVID;PASSONI, MATTEO
2016-01-01

Abstract

This paper presents a laboratory-scale experimental investigation about the laser cleaning of diagnostic first mirrors from tokamak-like contaminants, made of oxidized tungsten compounds with different properties and morphology. The re-deposition of contaminants sputtered from a tokamak first wall onto first mirrors' surfaces could dramatically decrease their reflectivity in an unacceptable way for the proper functioning of plasma diagnostic systems. The laser cleaning technique has been proposed as a solution to tackle this issue. In this work, pulsed laser deposition was exploited to produce rhodium films functional as first mirrors and to deposit onto them contaminants designed to be realistic in reproducing materials expected to be re-deposited on first mirrors in a tokamak environment. The same laser system was also used to perform laser cleaning experiments, exploiting a sample handling procedure that allows one to clean some cm2 in a few minutes. Cleaning effectiveness was evaluated in terms of specular reflectance recovery and mirror surface integrity. The effect of different laser wavelengths (λ= 1064, 266 nm) on the cleaning process was also addressed, as well as the impact of multiple contamination/cleaning cycles on the process outcome. A satisfactory recovery of pristine mirror reflectance (≥90%) was obtained in the vis-NIR spectral range, avoiding at the same time mirror damaging. The results here presented show the potential of the laser cleaning technique as an attractive solution for the cleaning of diagnostic first mirrors.
2016
first mirrors; laser cleaning; pulsed laser deposition; rhodium; tokamak; tungsten; Nuclear and High Energy Physics; Condensed Matter Physics
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
Maffini_NuclFus16_laser cleaning W-O.pdf

accesso aperto

: Publisher’s version
Dimensione 2.72 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
2.72 MB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11311/999855
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 19
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 16
social impact