First-wall cleaning and isotope control studies by ICRF conditioning in Tore Supra with a permanent magnetic field

The use of a permanent magnetic field in superconducting magnetic fusion devices impedes conditioning by glow discharges as actually applied in most pulsed machines. An alternative has been studied in Tore Supra for this purpose with a 3.8 T permanent field: a discharge produced by ion cyclotron range of frequency wave injection (ICRF). Helium ICRF discharge conditioning (ICRF-DC) has already been shown to desaturate the deuterium-loaded carbon first wall efficiently. In this paper, we describe how ICRF-DC can be applied to clean the wall or change its hydrogen isotopic ratio. This is achieved by pumping wall-desorbed molecules induced by particle bombardment from the ICRF plasma. The conditioning efficiency is optimized as a function of two input parameters: the gas pressure and the applied power. A plasma characterization is also given as a function of these parameters and a global model has been used to compare the experimental results and to interpret the main processes to which the neutral and charged species are subjected. The key to optimizing ICRF-DC is the wave ion heating to produce energetic particle bombardment of the first wall, while still achieving a low electron density, low-temperature plasma , to avoid reionization and redeposition of wall-desorbed neutrals before they can be evacuated by the torus pumping system.