Upgrade of the material ion beam test facility MARION for enhanced requirements of JET and ITER

The high heat flux ion beam test facility MARION (Material Research ION Beam test Stand) has been used for ion source conditioning and material testing within the IEK-4 for several years. Mainly small samples have been tested in the past by perpendicular irradiation. In these experiments only 25% of the available power density of MARION (>80 MW/m2) was used so far. The activation of these resources for material testing was realized in the first test phase of the new tungsten divertor element for the JET tokamak. The enhancement of MARION by a new protection scraper is shown. During the last experiments the need of a more flexible handling of the sample itself and of the facility became clear. Based on those experiences an upgrade concept was developed to prepare MARION for future demands allowing the handling of much bigger prototypes. Additionally main emphasis is given to the access to improved (surface) diagnostics for all orientations of the target.