Experimental characterization of the excitation state of picosecond laser-induced Tungsten plasmas

Bastien Peres (1) , Vincent Morel (1) , Arnaud Bultel (1) , Abdenacer Benyagoub (2, 3) , Isabelle Monnet (2, 3) , Emmanuel Gardès (2, 3) , Gilles Godard (1) , Carole Gobin (1) , Corentin Jouen (1) , Ammar Hideur (1) , Ioan Schneider (4) , Zsolt Mezei (4)

1 CORIA - Complexe de recherche interprofessionnel en aérothermochimie
2 CIMAP - UMR 6252 - Centre de recherche sur les Ions, les MAtériaux et la Photonique
3 MADIR - Matériaux, Défauts et IRradiations
4 LOMC - Laboratoire Ondes et Milieux Complexes

In order to quantitatively determine the retention of light atoms by plasma facing components (mainly tungsten) used in fusion reactors, the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) technique can be used. The nanosecond laser regimes classically used for LIBS present major limitations mainly due to the conditions of the laser-matter interaction process itself and cannot be used in the present context. Picosecond laser pulses are more appropriate. To validate the diagnostic based on picosecond laser pulses, preliminary characterizations of the produced plasmas have to be performed. Some related results are reported in the present communication. The study is focused on (1) the ablation of tungsten under two laser (low and high) fluence conditions and (2) the excitation equilibrium of the plasma from the nanosecond to microsecond time scales.

Domaines: Physique des plasmas [physics.plasm-ph]

Bastien Peres, Vincent Morel, Arnaud Bultel, Abdenacer Benyagoub, Isabelle Monnet, et al.. Experimental characterization of the excitation state of picosecond laser-induced Tungsten plasmas. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2014, 13th High-Tech Plasma Processes Conference (HTPP-2014) 22–27 June 2014, Toulouse, France, 550, pp.012047. ⟨10.1088/1742-6596/550/1/012047⟩. ⟨hal-01612388⟩