Speaker
Description
Liquid lithium (Li) is considered an attractive candidate for Plasma Facing Components (PFC) in magnetic confinement fusion devices due to its high heat and particle exhaust capabilities, self-replenishing property, and potential for confinement improvement. Additive-manufactured structures made of refractory metal, such as tungsten (W), gained interest as solid substrates for Li PFCs to improve the uniformity and stability of Li flow.
Separate experiments are performed to expose additive manufactured W components to either liquid Li at 650 [$^\circ$C] for 100 [h] or a stellarator plasma of Hybrid Illinois Device for Research and Applications (HIDRA) up to 10000 [s] (fluence ~10$^{26}$ [m$^{-2}$] and electron temperature Te ~ 5-20 [eV]). Surface characterization with Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), and Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope (LSCM) is performed before and after the Li or plasma exposures to analyze surface morphology and composition changes.