High-parameters experimental linear plasma device for fusion wall conditioning studies

In future, HELPD would provide valuable platform for investigating the issue in the W impurity control, towards the wall conditioning requirements in tokamak.The tungsten (W) impurity caused by sputtering of the first wall is considered as an issue influencing the plasma safe operation of EAST, ITER and other future fusion devices. As a supplement to the experiments on the tokamak, the linear plasma device (LPD) serves as an effective divertor simulator for the W impurity control research. This work presents the design and construction of High-parameters Experimental Linear Plasma Device (HELPD) in detail, including its layout and operation parameters. Besides the function of plasma exposure, the target sample could be exchanged in a separate material pretreatment vessel for wall conditioning, such as lithium coating and glow discharge cleaning (GDC) without breaking vacuum conditions. And the preliminary results show that the device could produce a steady state plasma of 1∼10 eV, and its flux could reach 1022 m−2s−1 with 10 kW helicon wave. In the future, HELPD would provide valuable platform for investigating the issue in the W impurity control，towards the wall conditioning requirements in tokamak. •The new designed LPD, named HELPD, has been employed for plasma-wall interactions research.•It presents the design and operation experience of essential subsystems, such as wall conditioning, magnet coil, vacuum system, and diagnostics.•The preliminary results show that the device could produce a steady state Ar helicon plasma of 1∼10 eV and the flux of 1022 m−2/s.