Stima preliminare dei parametri di plasma tramite spettroscopia di emissione in un nuovo esperimento a scarica induttiva presso la Neutral Beam Test Facility di ITER

Neutral Beam Injectors for fusion applications require the production and acceleration of negative ions. Negative ion sources are based on the inductive coupling of electromagnetic waves to a hydrogen plasma (ICP discharge). To optimise the design of such sources, and particularly of the RF driver (the region where the plasma is generated), the MINION experiment was designed and realised at Consorzio RFX. The start-up phase of the experiment has already started and first measurements campaign is planned for the end of November 2023. Within the first MINION campaign, measurements of hydrogen plasma emission with emission spectroscopy system will be performed, with the aim to characterize the plasma parameters in the region of the ion source where the ICP plasma is ignited. The plasma parameters will be evaluated with the assistance of collisional radiative models. Plasma parameter evaluation will be repeated under different operational conditions (e.g. RF power, pressure, plasma electrode bias; possibly magnetic configuration). The student will directly contribute to data collection and data interpretation. S/He will participate in the design and execution of the experiments. The student is expected to improve his/her knowledge on ICP plasmas and spectroscopy-based diagnostics techniques.