The need for sufficient power and particle exhaust is common to allmagnetic confinement concepts. For the new stellarator W7-X,making use of the intrinsic island structureat the edge, an island divertor is planned.The concept of the W7-X island divertor (as a prototype of generalisland divertors) and its specificdesign criteria will be presented. A comparison of the basic physics guidelines for divertor design with axisymmetricdivertors (specifically with the ASDEX-Upgrade Div-II configuration)will be made. The common elements (general scrape-off layer physicsdue to the dominant parallel transport and atomic physics effectsthrough neutrals) and possible differences (three-dimensional effects,differences in field-line geometries, additional flexibility throughdivertor coils, possible ergodicity in some configurations, corebaffling of neutrals)will be discussed.
First divertor physics studies in Wendelstein 7-X