Radial penetration and toroidal spread of laser blow-off aluminum beam in TEXTOR

The toroidal dispersal of laser blow-off injected aluminum is studied. The spatial distribution of Al I, Al II, and Al III line radiation is measured as a function of time. The measured toroidal distribution of the aluminum ions is compared with the distribution calculated by a one-dimensional transport simulation based on the kinetic theory, and a satisfactory agreement is found showing that the toroidal spread is determined only by Coulomb collisions.