In situ measurement of the spectral reflectance of mirror-like metallic surfaces during plasma exposition

Abstract

Visible spectroscopy in fusion plasmas crucially depends on the optical properties of first mirrors withstanding a considerable amount of radiation and particle fluxes. As a result of this interaction the optical properties of the mirrors could be changed so that a cleaning of the mirror is regularly required. Thus the reflectance of the first mirror must be monitored in situ. The newly developed Doppler-Shifted Reflectance Measurement (DSRM) diagnostic provides the spectral reflectance of mirrors in the absence of any calibration sources. It is based on the emission of fast H/D atoms in a low density Ar-H plasma by applying a negative potential on the order of −80⋯−200V to the mirror surface. Until now, the experimental data were restricted to measure only the fast atoms emission at the Hα line. In this work we prove that the new technique also provides the mirror reflectance at the Hβ line (Cu) (486 nm) relevant for the charge-exchange recombination spectroscopy (CXRS) measurements of the He II line (468 nm) in ITER. Moreover, the DSRM diagnostic remains sensitive to the polarization of the reflected light of a W mirror. We present the first experimental data on the time-dependent regime of operation: in situ monitoring of the degradation of an Al mirror is shown as a function of the mirror temperature. The passive heating of the mirror was performed by the plasma itself, which makes the separation between the impact of high temperature and plasma erosion on the mirror reflectance for the temperatures above 500 K impossible. A very good agreement of the experimental and the theoretical data calculated using the Drude theory for the temperature below 500 K is found. For the temperatures above 500 K the degradation of the reflectance of the mirror is determined by the erosion of Al, which is confirmed by monitoring the Al I spectral lines in unison. Keywords: optical emission spectroscopy, fast neutral atoms, spectral reflectance, light polarization, surface degradation, CXRS