Ignition and Sustainment of Arcing on Nanostructured Tungsten Under Plasma Exposure

• Published in: IEEE transactions on plasma science Vol. 47; no. 8; pp. 3617 - 3625
• Main Authors: Hwangbo, Dogyun, Nishijima, Daisuke, Kajita, Shin, Doerner, Russell P., Barengolts, Sergey A., Tsventoukh, Mikhail M., Tanaka, Hirohiko, Ohno, Noriyasu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.08.2019; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Current voltage characteristics; Divertor; Electric arcs; Electric fields; Electric potential; Electron density; Electron energy; Exposure; Helium; Ignition; Ions; Nanostructure; nuclear fusion; Physics; Plasma; Plasmas; Plasmas (physics); Sheaths; Surface emitting lasers; Surface morphology; Temperature measurement; Tungsten; unipolar arcing; Voltage drop

Laser-induced arc was initiated on a nanostructured "fuzz" tungsten cathode with simultaneous exposure to a stationary helium (He) plasma. Arc spots moved randomly and eroded almost all the surface area. The diameter of each arc spot was measured to be 5-<inline-formula> <tex-math...