IIAX bombards surfaces with a low-energy ion beam and monitors the material’s response to quantify its physical properties. The current research is investigating the effects of plasma-wall interactions based on the NSTX experiment, in which a lithium coating is evaporated on the plasma wetted surfaces (walls of ATJ graphite), which has been noted to reduce deuterium recycling.

A Colutron ion source and ion beam optics are used to deliver a low energy (300-1000eV), velocity-filtered, and neutral-filtered ion beam to a vertical surface. Ejected particles such as ion-induced electrons, sputtered ions (secondary ions) and neutral particles are monitored for the various beam and target conditions.

To measure sputtering yields we have a dual-crystal unit quartz crystal microbalance (DCU-QCM) that measures the mass of the ejected material. From this, geometric quantities, and deposited material stoichiometry, we calculate sputtering yields.

Recently, Li-ion gun was installed to investigate sputtrings of graphite and lithiated graphite by lithium ions bombardments.