ERO2.0 modelling of divertor marker erosion in ASDEX Upgrade L-mode experiments

Samuli Saari; Antti Hakola; Juuso Karhunen; M. Balden; C. Baumann; A. Järvinen; K. Krieger; H. Kumpulainen; Jari Likonen; J. Romazanov; ASDEX Upgrade Team; EUROfusion Tokamak Exploitation Team

doi:10.1016/j.nme.2025.102032

ERO2.0 modelling of divertor marker erosion in ASDEX Upgrade L-mode experiments

Samuli Saari^*
, Antti Hakola
, Juuso Karhunen
, M. Balden
, C. Baumann
, A. Järvinen
, K. Krieger
, H. Kumpulainen
, Jari Likonen
, J. Romazanov
, ASDEX Upgrade Team
, EUROfusion Tokamak Exploitation Team

^*Corresponding author for this work

BA4511 Fusion energy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

Abstract

Erosion of small marker surfaces in an experiment conducted at the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak was modelled using the ERO2.0 code. In the experiment 5 × 5 mm² and 1 × 1 mm² Au marker spots were exposed to a series of high-temperature L-mode plasmas in the low-field side strike point region to serve as proxies for measuring net and gross erosion of W, respectively. An ERO2.0 simulation setup was created for the experiment using background plasma produced using OSM and new angle-dependent reflection and sputtering data for Au generated with the SDTrimSP code. The simulated net erosion of the Au markers agreed closely with the measured values. The erosion of the Au markers was induced mainly by the light B, C and N impurities defined as fixed concentrations in the background plasma. The Au markers were found to undergo up to 15–20 times stronger net erosion in comparison to a uniform W surface. This was attributed to 3–4 times stronger gross erosion of Au in comparison to W and deposition of the eroded Au mostly outside of the markers. Consequently, the simulations suggest strongly compromised capability of Au to act as proxy markers for W in erosion studies due to the significantly higher gross erosion yield of Au and insufficient size of the 5 × 5 mm² markers for successful representation of net erosion, as eroded particles migrate along the plasma flow mostly outside the markers.

Original language	English
Article number	102032
Journal	Nuclear Materials and Energy
Volume	45
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nme.2025.102032
Publication status	Published - Dec 2025
MoE publication type	A1 Journal article-refereed

Funding

This work has been carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium, funded by the European Union via the Euratom Research and Training Programme (Grant Agreement No 101052200 — EUROfusion).

Keywords

Divertor erosion
ERO2.0
Sputtering

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Saari, S., Hakola, A., Karhunen, J., Balden, M., Baumann, C., Järvinen, A., Krieger, K., Kumpulainen, H., Likonen, J., Romazanov, J., ASDEX Upgrade Team, & EUROfusion Tokamak Exploitation Team (2025). ERO2.0 modelling of divertor marker erosion in ASDEX Upgrade L-mode experiments. Nuclear Materials and Energy, 45, Article 102032. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nme.2025.102032

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title = "ERO2.0 modelling of divertor marker erosion in ASDEX Upgrade L-mode experiments",

abstract = "Erosion of small marker surfaces in an experiment conducted at the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak was modelled using the ERO2.0 code. In the experiment 5 × 5 mm2 and 1 × 1 mm2 Au marker spots were exposed to a series of high-temperature L-mode plasmas in the low-field side strike point region to serve as proxies for measuring net and gross erosion of W, respectively. An ERO2.0 simulation setup was created for the experiment using background plasma produced using OSM and new angle-dependent reflection and sputtering data for Au generated with the SDTrimSP code. The simulated net erosion of the Au markers agreed closely with the measured values. The erosion of the Au markers was induced mainly by the light B, C and N impurities defined as fixed concentrations in the background plasma. The Au markers were found to undergo up to 15–20 times stronger net erosion in comparison to a uniform W surface. This was attributed to 3–4 times stronger gross erosion of Au in comparison to W and deposition of the eroded Au mostly outside of the markers. Consequently, the simulations suggest strongly compromised capability of Au to act as proxy markers for W in erosion studies due to the significantly higher gross erosion yield of Au and insufficient size of the 5 × 5 mm2 markers for successful representation of net erosion, as eroded particles migrate along the plasma flow mostly outside the markers.",

keywords = "Divertor erosion, ERO2.0, Sputtering",

author = "Samuli Saari and Antti Hakola and Juuso Karhunen and M. Balden and C. Baumann and A. J{\"a}rvinen and K. Krieger and H. Kumpulainen and Jari Likonen and J. Romazanov and \{ASDEX Upgrade Team\} and \{EUROfusion Tokamak Exploitation Team\}",

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year = "2025",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1016/j.nme.2025.102032",

language = "English",

volume = "45",

journal = "Nuclear Materials and Energy",

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T1 - ERO2.0 modelling of divertor marker erosion in ASDEX Upgrade L-mode experiments

AU - Saari, Samuli

AU - Hakola, Antti

AU - Karhunen, Juuso

AU - Balden, M.

AU - Baumann, C.

AU - Järvinen, A.

AU - Krieger, K.

AU - Kumpulainen, H.

AU - Likonen, Jari

AU - Romazanov, J.

AU - ASDEX Upgrade Team

AU - EUROfusion Tokamak Exploitation Team

PY - 2025/12

Y1 - 2025/12

N2 - Erosion of small marker surfaces in an experiment conducted at the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak was modelled using the ERO2.0 code. In the experiment 5 × 5 mm2 and 1 × 1 mm2 Au marker spots were exposed to a series of high-temperature L-mode plasmas in the low-field side strike point region to serve as proxies for measuring net and gross erosion of W, respectively. An ERO2.0 simulation setup was created for the experiment using background plasma produced using OSM and new angle-dependent reflection and sputtering data for Au generated with the SDTrimSP code. The simulated net erosion of the Au markers agreed closely with the measured values. The erosion of the Au markers was induced mainly by the light B, C and N impurities defined as fixed concentrations in the background plasma. The Au markers were found to undergo up to 15–20 times stronger net erosion in comparison to a uniform W surface. This was attributed to 3–4 times stronger gross erosion of Au in comparison to W and deposition of the eroded Au mostly outside of the markers. Consequently, the simulations suggest strongly compromised capability of Au to act as proxy markers for W in erosion studies due to the significantly higher gross erosion yield of Au and insufficient size of the 5 × 5 mm2 markers for successful representation of net erosion, as eroded particles migrate along the plasma flow mostly outside the markers.

AB - Erosion of small marker surfaces in an experiment conducted at the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak was modelled using the ERO2.0 code. In the experiment 5 × 5 mm2 and 1 × 1 mm2 Au marker spots were exposed to a series of high-temperature L-mode plasmas in the low-field side strike point region to serve as proxies for measuring net and gross erosion of W, respectively. An ERO2.0 simulation setup was created for the experiment using background plasma produced using OSM and new angle-dependent reflection and sputtering data for Au generated with the SDTrimSP code. The simulated net erosion of the Au markers agreed closely with the measured values. The erosion of the Au markers was induced mainly by the light B, C and N impurities defined as fixed concentrations in the background plasma. The Au markers were found to undergo up to 15–20 times stronger net erosion in comparison to a uniform W surface. This was attributed to 3–4 times stronger gross erosion of Au in comparison to W and deposition of the eroded Au mostly outside of the markers. Consequently, the simulations suggest strongly compromised capability of Au to act as proxy markers for W in erosion studies due to the significantly higher gross erosion yield of Au and insufficient size of the 5 × 5 mm2 markers for successful representation of net erosion, as eroded particles migrate along the plasma flow mostly outside the markers.

KW - Divertor erosion

KW - ERO2.0

KW - Sputtering

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105023375430

U2 - 10.1016/j.nme.2025.102032

DO - 10.1016/j.nme.2025.102032

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105023375430

SN - 2352-1791

VL - 45

JO - Nuclear Materials and Energy

JF - Nuclear Materials and Energy

M1 - 102032

ER -

ERO2.0 modelling of divertor marker erosion in ASDEX Upgrade L-mode experiments

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Keywords

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