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Overview of photo-neutralization techniques for negative ion-based neutral beam injectors in future fusion reactors

  • Colloquium - Optical Phenomena and Photonics
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Abstract

Photo-neutralization of negative ions (\(H^-/D^-\)) is now regarded as a promising technique to increase the efficiency of neutral beam heating systems in future fusions reactors. In a gas or plasma neutralizer, the extra electron in the negative ion is detached by stripping, while in photo-neutralizers it detaches by absorbing a visible or near-infrared photon. The main technological challenge is the level of optical power required (several MW), which forbids the use of direct illumination and requires some form of light trapping: the research focuses on the development of suitable coherent sources and enhancement cavities. This overview discusses the different concepts so far developed, describing their working principles, advantages and critical points as well as new possible methodologies to realize photo-neutralization for nuclear fusion reactor applications.

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Data Availability Statement

This manuscript has no associated data or the data will not be deposited. [Author’s Comment: The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.]

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Consorzio RFX-CNR, Corso Stati uniti 4, 35127, Padua, Italy

    Donatella Fiorucci

  2. CNR - Padua Research Area, Corso Stati Uniti, 4, 35127, Padua, Italy

    Alessandro Fassina

Authors
  1. Donatella Fiorucci
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  2. Alessandro Fassina
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Contributions

It is underlined that since the first author worked on the resonant cavity concept and the second author worked on the harmonic trapping one, section 3 was written by the first author and section 6 was written by the second author. For the remaining sections of the paper, the two authors contributed equally.

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Correspondence to Donatella Fiorucci.

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Fiorucci, D., Fassina, A. Overview of photo-neutralization techniques for negative ion-based neutral beam injectors in future fusion reactors. Eur. Phys. J. D 76, 141 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/s10053-022-00457-9

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