ENEA Frascati Research Centre

Abstract The optimized superconducting stellarator device Wendelstein 7-X (with major radius , minor radius , and plasma volume) restarted operation after the assembly of a graphite heat shield and 10 inertially cooled island divertor modules. This paper reports on the results from the first high-performance plasma operation. Glow discharge conditioning and ECRH conditioning discharges in helium turned out to be important for density and edge radiation control. Plasma densities of with central electron temperatures were routinely achieved with hydrogen gas fueling, frequently terminated by a radiative collapse. In a first stage, plasma densities up to were reached with hydrogen pellet injection and helium gas fueling. Here, the ions are indirectly heated, and at a central density of a temperature of with was transiently accomplished, which corresponds to with a peak diamagnetic energy of and volume-averaged normalized plasma pressure . The routine access to high plasma densities was opened with boronization of the first wall. After boronization, the oxygen impurity content was reduced by a factor of 10, the carbon impurity content by a factor of 5. The reduced (edge) plasma radiation level gives routinely access to higher densities without radiation collapse, e.g. well above line integrated density and central temperatures at moderate ECRH power. Both X2 and O2 mode ECRH schemes were successfully applied. Core turbulence was measured with a phase contrast imaging diagnostic and suppression of turbulence during pellet injection was observed.

The R2E project at CERN has tested a few commercial SRAMs and a custom-designed SRAM, whose data are complementary to various scientific publications. The experimental data include low- and high-energy protons, heavy ions, thermal, intermediate- and high-energy neutrons, high-energy electrons and high-energy pions.

MgB<sub>2</sub> hollow wires have been produced with a new technique which uses a conventional wire manufacturing process but is applied to composite billets containing the elemental B and Mg precursors in an appropriate shape. The technique has been applied to the manufacture of both monofilamentary and multifilamentary wires of several tens of metres in length. The superconducting transport properties of the MgB<sub>2</sub> hollow wires have been measured in a magnetic field and in the temperature range from 4.2 to 30 K. Promising results are obtained, which indicate the possibility of the application of these wires as superconductors in the temperature range of 15-30 K and at medium-high values of magnetic field.

Abstract Research on magnetic confinement of high-temperature plasmas has the ultimate goal of harnessing nuclear fusion for the production of electricity. Although the tokamak 1 is the leading toroidal magnetic-confinement concept, it is not without shortcomings and the fusion community has therefore also pursued alternative concepts such as the stellarator. Unlike axisymmetric tokamaks, stellarators possess a three-dimensional (3D) magnetic field geometry. The availability of this additional dimension opens up an extensive configuration space for computational optimization of both the field geometry itself and the current-carrying coils that produce it. Such an optimization was undertaken in designing Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) 2 , a large helical-axis advanced stellarator (HELIAS), which began operation in 2015 at Greifswald, Germany. A major drawback of 3D magnetic field geometry, however, is that it introduces a strong temperature dependence into the stellarator’s non-turbulent ‘neoclassical’ energy transport. Indeed, such energy losses will become prohibitive in high-temperature reactor plasmas unless a strong reduction of the geometrical factor associated with this transport can be achieved; such a reduction was therefore a principal goal of the design of W7-X. In spite of the modest heating power currently available, W7-X has already been able to achieve high-temperature plasma conditions during its 2017 and 2018 experimental campaigns, producing record values of the fusion triple product for such stellarator plasmas 3,4 . The triple product of plasma density, ion temperature and energy confinement time is used in fusion research as a figure of merit, as it must attain a certain threshold value before net-energy-producing operation of a reactor becomes possible 1,5 . Here we demonstrate that such record values provide evidence for reduced neoclassical energy transport in W7-X, as the plasma profiles that produced these results could not have been obtained in stellarators lacking a comparably high level of neoclassical optimization.

Abstract This report presents the conceptual design of a new European research infrastructure EuPRAXIA. The concept has been established over the last four years in a unique collaboration of 41 laboratories within a Horizon 2020 design study funded by the European Union. EuPRAXIA is the first European project that develops a dedicated particle accelerator research infrastructure based on novel plasma acceleration concepts and laser technology. It focuses on the development of electron accelerators and underlying technologies, their user communities, and the exploitation of existing accelerator infrastructures in Europe. EuPRAXIA has involved, amongst others, the international laser community and industry to build links and bridges with accelerator science — through realising synergies, identifying disruptive ideas, innovating, and fostering knowledge exchange. The Eu-PRAXIA project aims at the construction of an innovative electron accelerator using laser- and electron-beam-driven plasma wakefield acceleration that offers a significant reduction in size and possible savings in cost over current state-of-the-art radiofrequency-based accelerators. The foreseen electron energy range of one to five gigaelectronvolts (GeV) and its performance goals will enable versatile applications in various domains, e.g. as a compact free-electron laser (FEL), compact sources for medical imaging and positron generation, table-top test beams for particle detectors, as well as deeply penetrating X-ray and gamma-ray sources for material testing. EuPRAXIA is designed to be the required stepping stone to possible future plasma-based facilities, such as linear colliders at the high-energy physics (HEP) energy frontier. Consistent with a high-confidence approach, the project includes measures to retire risk by establishing scaled technology demonstrators. This report includes preliminary models for project implementation, cost and schedule that would allow operation of the full Eu-PRAXIA facility within 8—10 years.

Abstract. The time series of satellite infrared AVHRR data from 1985 to 2005 has been used to produce a daily series of optimally interpolated SST maps over the regular grid of the operational MFSTEP OGCM model of the Mediterranean basin. A complete validation of this OISST (Optimally Interpolated Sea Surface Temperature) product with in situ measurements has been performed in order to exclude any possibility of spurious trends due to instrumental calibration errors/shifts or algorithms malfunctioning related to local geophysical factors. The validation showed that satellite OISST is able to reproduce in situ measurements with a mean bias of less than 0.1 K and RMSE of about 0.5 K and that errors do not drift with time or with the percent interpolation error.

We have explored the synthesis of iron oxide particles, tubes, and fibrils within the pores of nanoporous polycarbonate and alumina membranes. The membranes contain uniformly distributed cylindrical pores with monodispersed diameters (varying between 20 and 200 nm) and thicknesses of 6 and 60 microm, respectively. By hydrolysis and polymerization of iron salts, particles of different sizes and phases were formed in the pores, building iron oxide particle nanowires. Alternatively, by the sol-gel technique, using as reagents metalloorganic compounds, fibrils and tubes of different iron oxide phases were prepared. Structural and morphological investigations performed using scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy revealed ordered iron oxide particle wires, tubes, and fibrils formed inside the membrane nanopores. Magnetic characterization was accomplished with a vibrating sample magnetometer. Below the blocking temperature (T(B)), the magnetic behavior of the nanowires was governed by dipolar interaction between nearest-neighbor nanoparticles inside the pore, whereas the energy barrier, and therefore the T(B) value, was mainly governed by dipolar interaction between magnetic moments over larger (interpore) distances. As expected, crystalline iron oxide nanotubes exhibited magnetic perpendicular anisotropy due to their magnetocrystalline and shape anisotropy.

The valence band offset (VBO) at the interface CdS/Cu2ZnSnS 4 was investigated by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The VBO was measured by two different procedures: an indirect method involving the measurements of the core levels together with the XPS bulk valence band (VB) spectra and a direct method involving the analysis of XPS VB spectra at the interface. The indirect method resulted in a VBO value of (-1.20 ± 0.14) eV while the direct method returned a similar value of (-1.24 ± 0.06) eV but affected by a lower uncertainty. The conduction band offset (CBO) was calculated from the measured VBO values. These two measured values of the VBO allowed us to calculate the CBO, giving (-0.30 ± 0.14) eV and (-0.34 ± 0.06) eV, respectively. These values show that the CBO has a cliff-like behaviour which could be one of the reasons for the Voc limitation in the CdS/CZTS solar cells. © 2013 IOP Publishing Ltd.

A critical issue in practical structural health monitoring is related to the capability of proper sensing systems integrated within the host structures to detect, identify, and localize damage generation. To this aim, many techniques have been proposed involving dynamic measurements such as modal analysis, acoustic emission, and ultrasonics. This paper relies on the use of embedded fiber Bragg grating sensors for performing an experimental modal analysis on a wing of an aircraft model. Time domain response of the embedded fiber-optic sensors induced by hammer impacts were acquired and transformed into the frequency domain. Using a classical technique based on the frequency transfer function, the first displacement and strain mode shapes of the wing have been retrieved in terms of natural frequencies and amplitudes. Experimental results confirm the excellent performances of this class of sensing devices to determine the modal behavior within complex structures compared with conventional accelerometer-based detection systems.

The advent of free-electron laser (FEL) sources delivering two synchronized pulses of different wavelengths (or colours) has made available a whole range of novel pump-probe experiments. This communication describes a major step forward using a new configuration of the FERMI FEL-seeded source to deliver two pulses with different wavelengths, each tunable independently over a broad spectral range with adjustable time delay. The FEL scheme makes use of two seed laser beams of different wavelengths and of a split radiator section to generate two extreme ultraviolet pulses from distinct portions of the same electron bunch. The tunability range of this new two-colour source meets the requirements of double-resonant FEL pump/FEL probe time-resolved studies. We demonstrate its performance in a proof-of-principle magnetic scattering experiment in Fe-Ni compounds, by tuning the FEL wavelengths to the Fe and Ni 3p resonances.

The present work addresses the issue of identifying the major non-linear physics processes which may regulate drift and drift-Alfvén turbulence using a weak turbulence approach. Within this framework, on the basis of the non-linear gyrokinetic equation for both electrons and ions, an analytic theory is presented for non-linear zonal dynamics described in terms of two axisymmetric potentials, δϕz and δA|| z, which spatially depend only on a (magnetic) flux co-ordinate. Spontaneous excitation of zonal flows by electrostatic drift microinstabilities is demonstrated both analytically and by direct 3-D gyrokinetic simulations. Direct comparisons indicate good agreement between analytic expressions of the zonal flow growth rate and numerical simulation results for ion temperature gradient driven modes. Analogously, it is shown that zonal flows may be spontaneously excited by drift-Alfvén turbulence, in the form of modulational instability of the radial envelope of the mode as well, whereas in general, excitations of zonal currents are possible but have little feedback on the turbulence itself.

The Horizon2020 Project EuPRAXIA (“European Plasma Research Accelerator with eXcellence In Applications”) is preparing a conceptualdesign report of a highly compact and cost-effective European facility with multi-GeV electron beams using plasma as the acceleration medium. The accelerator facility will be based on a laser and/or a beam driven plasma acceleration approach and will be used for photon science, high-energy physics (HEP) detector tests, and other applications such as compact X-ray sources for medical imaging or material processing. EuPRAXIA started in November 2015 and will deliver thedesign report in October 2019. EuPRAXIAaims to be included on the ESFRI roadmap in 2020.

The world's largest pulsed superconducting coil was successfully tested by charging up to 13 T and 46 kA with a stored energy of 640 MJ. The ITER central solenoid (CS) model coil and CS insert coil were developed and fabricated through an international collaboration, and their cooldown and charging tests were successfully carried out by international test and operation teams. In pulsed charging tests, where the original goal was 0.4 T/s up to 13 T, the CS model coil and the CS insert coil achieved ramp rates to 13 T of 0.6 T/s and 1.2 T/s, respectively. In addition, the CS insert coil was charged and discharged 10 003 times in the 13 T background field of the CS model coil and no degradation of the operational temperature margin directly coming from this cyclic operation was observed. These test results fulfilled all the goals of CS model coil development by confirming the validity of the engineering design and demonstrating that the ITER coils can now be constructed with confidence.

In the present work, poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) films were produced by spin-coating, and applying different conditions of quenching, in order to investigate the dominant mechanism of the β-phase formation. The influence of the polymer/solvent mass ratio of the solution, the rotational speed of the spin-coater and the crystallization temperature of the film on both the β-phase content and the piezoelectric coefficient (d33) were investigated. This study demonstrates that the highest values of d33 are obtained when thinner films, produced with a lower concentration of polymer in the solvent (i.e., 20 wt.%), go through quenching in water, at room temperature. Whereas, in the case of higher polymer concentration (i.e., 30 wt.%), the best value of d33 (~30 pm/V) was obtained through quenching in liquid nitrogen, at the temperature of 77 K. We believe that in the former case, phase inversion is mainly originated by electrostatic interaction of PVDF with the polar molecules of water, due to the low viscosity of the polymer solution. On the contrary, in the latter case, due to higher viscosity of the solution, mechanical stretching induced on the polymer during spin-coating deposition is the main factor inducing self-alignment of the β-phase. These findings open up a new way to realize highly efficient devices for energy harvesting and wearable sensors.

Production of ZnO nanorods with high crystallographic purity and PL emission properties.

Aimed at high-confinement (H-mode) plasmas in the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), the effect of local gas puffing from electron and ion sides of a lower hybrid wave (LHW) antenna on LHW-plasma coupling and high-density experiments with lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) are investigated in EAST. Experimental results show that gas puffing from the electron side is more favourable to improve coupling compared with gas puffing from the ion side. Investigations indicate that LHW-plasma coupling without gas puffing is affected by the density near the LHW grill (grill density), hence leading to multi-transition of low-high-low (L-H-L) confinement, with a correspondingly periodic characteristic behaviour in the plasma radiation. High-density experiments with LHCD suggest that strong lithiation gives a significant improvement on current drive efficiency in the higher density region than 2 × 1019 m-3. Studies indicate that the sharp decrease in current drive efficiency is mainly correlated with parametric decay instability. Using lithium coating and gas puffing from the electron side of the LHW antenna, an H-mode plasma is obtained by LHCD in a wide range of parameters, whether LHW is deposited inside the half-minor radius or not, implying that a central and large driven current is not a necessary condition for the H-mode plasma. H-mode is investigated with CRONOS. © 2013 IAEA, Vienna.

A plasmonic analogue of electromagnetically induced transparancy is activated and tuned in the terahertz (THz) range in asymmetric metamaterials fabricated from high critical temperature (T-c) superconductor thin films. The asymmetric design provides a near-field coupling between a superradiant and a subradiant plasmonic mode, which has been widely tuned through super-conductivity and monitored by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The sharp transparency window that appears in the extinction spectrum exhibits a relative modulation up to 50% activated by temperature change. The interplay between ohmic and radiative damping, which can be independently tuned and controlled, allows for engineering the electromagnetically induced transparency of the metamaterial far beyond the current state-of-the-art, which relies on standard metals or low-T-c superconductors.

Advanced scenario plasmas must often be run at low densities and high power, leading to hot edge temperatures and consequent power handling issues at plasma - surface interaction zones. Experiments at JET are addressing this issue by exploring the use of extrinsic impurity seeding and D-2 puffing to reduce heat fluxes.The experiments presented in this paper continue the line of advanced tokamak ( AT) scenario studies at high triangularity in JET by concentrating on the characterization of the edge pedestal and the ELM behaviour with deuterium and/or light impurity fuelling (neon, nitrogen). Both injection of extrinsic impurities and D2 puffing are shown to have a significant impact on the edge pedestal in typical JET AT conditions. The ELM energy loss, Delta W-ELM/W-dia, can be reduced to below 3% and the maximum ELM penetration depth can be limited to r/a > 0.7, thus enhancing the possibility for sustainable internal transport barriers at large plasma radius. These conditions can be achieved in two separate domains, either at a radiated power fraction (F-rad) of 30% or at a fraction of > 50%. At the lower Frad the ELMs are type I and a high pedestal pressure is maintained, but the occasional large ELM may still occur. At F-rad > 50% the pedestal pressure is degraded by 30-50%, but the ELMs are degraded to type III. The intermediate regime at F-rad similar to 40% is unattractive for ITB scenarios because large type I ELMs occur intermittently during the predominantly type III ELM phases (compound type I/III). F-rad = 30% can be obtained with D-2 fuelling alone, whereas neon or nitrogen seeding is needed to achieve F-rad > 50%. Only a limited number of tests have been carried out with nitrogen seeding, with the preliminary conclusion that the plasma edge behaviour is similar to that with neon seeding once the radiated fraction is matched.

Clear low frequency (typically 5-25 kHz) coherent type-I ELM precursor modes have been identified in JET. They are detected through various diagnostics, especially in the ECE and Mirnov signals, but also on the SXR cameras and the multichannel O-mode edge reflectometer. The modes propagate in the direction of the ion-diamagnetic drift and are usually accompanied by a slight rise in the divertor D-alpha-emission. The precursors show no radial phase inversions and are localized to a few centimetres inside the separatrix, in the pedestal region. The time by which the precursor onset precedes the ELM event varies greatly, and ranges from 0.2 ms up to several tens of milliseconds, though the timescale has no effect on the characteristics of the precursors. During their lifetime, the precursor amplitude is often seen to fluctuate, and the frequency and dominant n-number of the precursors can change rapidly, typically within 1 ms. The range of toroidal precursor mode numbers n which have been observed is 1-13. Parametric studies show that n seems to be mainly prescribed by a combination of the electron pedestal pressure and the (normalized) electron pedestal collisionality v*(e) with increasing v*(e) leading to higher n-numbers. Above a certain edge collisionality (roughly v*(e) > 1-3) the precursors seem to be absent, indicating that a sufficiently high edge current is important to destabilize the precursors. The low-n precursors are known to be external kinks (also known on JET as Outer Modes), while experimental findings and their comparison with stability calculations suggest that the precursor modes with higher n are not pure external kinks but coupled ballooning-kink modes. Several hundred discharges have been analysed, and, in discharges with low to moderate edge collisionality, the precursors could be detected prior to most type-I ELMs, while prior to type-III ELMs the modes were not encountered. In spite of their regular occurrence, there is no evidence of the precursor mode growth rate rapidly accelerating before the ELM, indicating that type-I ELMs on JET are not triggered by these modes.

The thermal behavior and pyrolytic kinetic analysis of main waste polymers (polypropylene (PP), polyethylene film (PE), poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), polystyrene (PS)) and three synthetic mixtures representing commingled postconsumer plastics wastes (CPCPWs) output from material recovery facilities were studied. Thermogravimetry (TG) pyrolysis experiments revealed that the thermal degradation of single polymers and the synthetic mixture enriched in PP occurred in one single step. The other two mixtures underwent a two-consecutive, partially overlapping degradation steps, whose peaks related to the first-order derivative of TG were deconvoluted into two distinct processes. Further TG experiments carried out on binary mixtures (PS/PP, PET/PP, PET/PEfilm and PP/PEfilm) showed a thermal degradation reliance on composition, structure and temperatures of single polymer components. A kinetic analysis was made for each step using the Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS) method, thus determining almost constant activation energy (E a ) for pyrolysis of PS, PET, PP and PE film in the range 0.25<<0.85, unlike for pyrolysis of CPCPWs, with particular reference to CPCPW1 and the second step of CPCPW2 and CPCPW3, both ascribable to degradation of PP and PE film. To account for the reliability of these values the integral isoconversional modified method developed by Vyazovkin was also applied.