Molecules are known to play an important role in the physics of the edge regions of magnetically-confined plasmas. In the detached divertor region with high recycling, the isotopologues of hydrogen molecules can be present at relatively high concentrations: these molecules will undergo a variety of processes including vibrational excitation, dissociation and ionization through collisions with other energetic plasma particles.
In addition, various other hydrogen-containing molecules form, directly or indirectly as a result of interactions of plasma particles with reactor surfaces: the impact and properties of species such as BeH and BeH+ on, for example, impurity transport remains unquantified.
The goal of this CRP is to recommend fundamental data concerning the formation, spectroscopic properties and reactions of molecular species in the boundary plasmas of magnetic-confinement fusion devices; participants will be drawn from the fusion plasma modelling community and the network of computational and experimental plasma physicists working on the calculation and measurement of the collisional and spectroscopic properties of molecules under relevant conditions of temperature and density.