Fractal structure of films deposited in a tokamak

The surface of amorphous films deposited in the T-10 tokamak was studied in a scanning tunnel microscope. The surface relief on a scale from 10 nm to 100 μm showed a stochastic surface topography and revealed a hierarchy of grains. The observed variety of irregular structures of the films was studied within the framework of the concept of scale invariance using the methods of fractal geometry and statistical physics. The experimental probability density distribution functions of the surface height variations are close in shape to the Cauchy distribution. The stochastic surface topography of the films is characterized by a Hurst parameter of H = 0.68–0.85, which is evidence of a nontrivial self-similarity of the film structure. The fractal character and porous structure of deposited irregular films must be considered as an important issue related to the accumulation of tritium in the ITER project. The process of film growth on the surface of tokamak components exposed to plasma has been treated within the framework of the general concept of inhomogeneous surface growth. A strong turbulence of the edge plasma in tokamaks can give rise to fluctuations in the incident flux of particles, which leads to the growth of fractal films with grain dimensions ranging from nano-to micrometer scale. The shape of the surface of some films found in the T-10 tokamak has been interpreted using a model of diffusion-limited aggregation (DLA). The growth of films according to the discrete DLA model was simulated using statistics of fluctuations observed in a turbulent edge plasma of the T-10 tokamak. The modified DLA model reproduces well the main features of the surface of some films deposited in tokamaks.