Similarity of micro- and macrotubules in tokamak dust and plasma

The evidences for the structures of similar topology (a tubule with a cartw heel in the edge cross-section) and very different length scale are found i n the tokamak dust and tokamak plasmas. In the dust deposit, such structure s of 50-100 nm diameter are assembled from tubules of the size typical for multiwall carbon nanotubes. In the plasma, similar structures of centimeter scale diameter are observed in the visible Light emission. These data are compatible with the hypothesis about microsolid skeletons, assembled from c arbon nanotubes (or similar nanostructures), of the observed long-living fi laments in plasmas. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.