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To sustain plasmas with higher parameters and with longer pulse duration in LHD, ECH system has been upgraded by introducing newly developed 77 GHz gyrotrons. The designed output power and operation duration time are over 1 MW for several seconds and 0.3 MW for continuous operation, respectively. Owing to the upgrade of gyrotrons and improved power supply operation procedure, total injection power of EC-waves to LHD increased up to 3.7 MW at the last LHD experimental campaign in 2010. Application of the high-power 77 GHz EC-waves of 3.4 MW as focused beams to the center of plasma with low line-average electron density of ∼0.2×10 19m -3 causes highly steep electron temperature profile and the central electron temperature reached up to 20 keV, which highly exceeds the former record of 15 keV. At higher density region of 1×10 19m -3, central electron temperature reached 8.6 keV. Additional electron Bernstein wave heatings, O-X-B and slow X-B heatings, using a 77 GHz ECH system caused clear increase in plasma stored energy even for the high-density plasmas over plasma cutoff (>7. 35×10 19m -3) sustained with NBI. For the O-X-B scenario, the 77 GHz EC-wave was obliquely injected from low-field side in O-mode polarization, aiming at the point where high mode-conversion efficiency was expected. For realizing slow X-B scenario, new inner-vessel mirrors were installed in LHD just close to a helical coil, that is, at the high-field side (HFS) region. Using the inner-vessel mirror, X-mode waves were injected from HFS, showing evident increase in plasma stored energy. Oblique injection of long-pulse 0.77 MW/8 s 77 GHz wave with various N ∥ clearly demonstrated ECCD in LHD. The EC-driven current changes its direction with the sign of N ∥, and the highest EC-driven current reached up to 42 kA. © 2011 American Institute of Physics.

Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ECRH) has contributed to the achievement of high performance plasma production, high electron temperature plasmas and sustainment of steady-state plasmas in the Large Helical Device (LHD). Our immediate targets of upgrading the ECRH system are 5 MW several seconds and 1 MW longer than one hour power injection into LHD. The improvement will greatly extend the plasma parameter regime. For that purpose, we have been promoting the development and installation of 77 GHz/1-1.5 MW/several seconds and 0.3 MW/CW gyrotrons in collaboration with University of Tsukuba. The transmission lines are re-examined and improved for high and CW power transmission. In the recent experimental campaign, two 77 GHz gyrotrons were operated. One more gyrotron, which was designed for 1.5 MW/2 s output, was constructed and is tested. We have been promoting to improve total ECRH efficiency for efficient gyrotron-power use and efficient plasma heating, e.g. a new waveguide alignment method and mode-content analysis and the feedback control of the injection polarization. In the last experimental campaign, the 77 GHz gyrotrons were used in combination with the existing 84 GHz range and 168 GHz gyrotrons. Multi-frequency ECRH system is more flexible in plasma heating experiments and diagnostics. A lot of experiments have been performed in relation to high electron temperature plasmas by realization of the core electron-root confinement (CERC), electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD), Electron Bernstein Wave heating, and steady-state plasma sustainment. Some of the experimental results are briefly described. © 2009 American Institute of Physics.

Trials of steady-state operation (SSO) in the Large Helical Device (LHD) were started when a continuous wave (cw) gyrotron with the output power up to 0.2 MW was introduced to the electron cyclotro...

A 77-GHz, 1-MW gyrotron is being newly installed in the Large Helical Device not only to enhance the total heating power but also to increase the possibility of controlling the local plasma parameters. Our progress in installing the new gyrotron and evaluating its properties is discussed. We have already finished the installation of the peripheral components, including the transmission line, and conducted a test at 1 MW for a short pulse. Our plan is to operate this gyrotron at a power of up to 1MW for 5 s. The conditioning of the gyrotron has been smoothly conducted, and a gyrotron output power up to 810 kWfor 3.6 s has been achieved so far. The total injected power of electron cyclotron resonance heating to the plasma reached a value of ∼2.5 MW.

The configuration of and methods for the Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ECRH) control system in the Large Helical Device (LHD) are discussed. The ECRH system is routinely used for high electron temperature plasma production and sustainment in the LHD and must be remotely operated reliably and stably. The ECRH system consists of several elements that require reliable control and monitoring, including gyrotrons, high voltage power supplies, millimeter wave transmission systems, and antenna systems.

A low-power test system using a vector network analyzer is constructed to evaluate the performance of phase correcting mirrors in a matching optics unit (MOU). The MOU is used in order to facilitate the good coupling of a millimeter wave beam from a gyrotron into corrugated waveguides. The newly developed diagnostic system allows us to make measurements not only of intensity-, but also of phase-profiles of millimeter wave beams and opens a new range of possibilities for designing and testing high-precision quasi-optical systems. Low-power tests are carried out to evaluate the performance of the newly designed MOU by reversely injecting a Gaussian beam from the output port of the MOU. The output beam from the input port of the MOU is measured with the analyzer. In this inverse process, the injected Gaussian beam should be converted to the real beam pattern radiated from the gyrotron. Using correlation analysis, the measured- and calculated-electric fields are compared in their amplitude- and phase-profiles. Good agreement between the measurement and the calculation is obtained. Therefore, it is judged that the phase-correcting mirrors in the MOU will work correctly in upcoming high-power tests.

This paper reports on the results of an experimental investigation into electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) using the fundamental O-mode in the large helical device (LHD). The aim of the experiment is to understand the mechanism of the selective excitation of the O-mode EC wave and, thereby, optimize the performance of the ECRH. The polarization angle and the ellipticity of the electric field of the incident high power millimetre waves were varied in the experiment using a pair of grating polarizers. The responses of the plasma stored energy and electron temperature were measured to evaluate the effects. The optimum values of the polarization angle and the ellipticity for the ECRH were identified experimentally. A simple model of power branching between the O- and X-modes is introduced in order to interpret the observed experimental results. Specific to the ECRH in the LHD configuration, the effect of magnetic shear in the plasma peripheral region is considered.

The potential of continuous plasma sustainment of Large Helical Device (LHD) was successfully demonstrated by a one hour discharge with 110 kW electron cyclotron heating (ECH) power. The ECH power of frequency 84 GHz generated by a continuous-work (CW) gyrotron is transmitted through an evacuated waveguide transmission line and injected to the LHD vacuum vessel using waveguide antenna. The plasma density was kept at about 1.5 × 1018/m3 and the electron temperature at the plasma center over 1 keV. Due to the low injection power the density was not so high but the plasma was quite stable. The power injection was terminated manually at 3900 seconds from the limitation of the setting of data acquisition, not for any troubles on devices.

We have developed and constructed an ECH system for the large helical device (LHD). The ECH system consists of 0.5 MW, 84 GHz range and 168 GHz gyrotrons, high voltage power supplies, long distance transmission lines, and in-vessel quasi-optical antennas. It has been improved step by step. At the third campaign of LHD experiments, three 84 GHz range (two 82.6 GHz and one 84 GHz) and three 168 GHz gyrotrons are operated and ECH power can be injected from four antennas vertically and two horizontally. This complicated system is remotely controlled and monitored by fully GUI (Graphical User Interface) control panels realized on PC via TCP (transmission control protocol) communication. Over 10 000 shots of gyrotron power have been injected steadily into the LHD during the experimental campaigns on this system. One line of the system (84 GHz line) is specially prepared for the experiments of steady state plasma production. Using this line, plasma sustainment for 2 min was successfully achieved by only ECH power. Injected ECH power was 50 kW with 95% duty factor. The electron density and temperature of the sustained plasma are measured to be 0.3–0.5×1018 m−3 and ∼650 eV. Ion temperature measured by Doppler broadening of the impurity radiation line was kept constant at ∼300 eV during RF injection.

A large helical device (LHD) experiment began at the end of March 1998. Fundamental and second harmonic electron cyclotron heating (ECH) are used as a plasma production and heating method with six gyrotrons whose frequencies are 82.6/84 and 168 GHz, respectively. Up to 0.9 MW power has been injected in LHD with long distance corrugated waveguide transmission systems. The maximum pulse width is achieved to 3.0 s/240 kW for the LHD experiments. Six antenna systems have been prepared at the horizontally and vertically elongated poloidal sections. The maximum stored energy using all six gyrotrons is 70 kJ at the averaged density of n e = 4 × 10 18 m -3 . The maximum central electron temperature T e0 = 3.5 keV is achieved at n e = 3 × 10 18 m -3 . The magnetic field structure in heliotron type devices like LHD, notably near the coil, is complicated. For this oblique injection, a wave is launched from the antenna, and then crosses the plasma in the complex field structure near the coil. The polarization ellipse of the wave is changed along the ray-path. The wave propagation in heliotron type devices has been analyzed in an ideal case that the magnetic field component along the propagation direction can be neglected. Even for perpendicular injection with our antenna systems, the field component along the propagation direction is not so small. Another treatment of the wave-propagation is introduced. Some calculations for the heating scenario with this treatment are shown.

The initial experiments on the Large Helical Device (LHD) have extended confinement studies on currentless plasmas to a large scale (R = 3.9 m, a = 0.6 m). Heating by NBI of 3 MW produced plasmas with a fusion triple product of 8 × 1018m-3keVs at a magnetic field strength of 1.5 T. An electron temperature of 1.5 keV and an ion temperature of 1.1 keV were achieved simultaneously at a line averaged electron density of 1.5 × 1019 m-3. The maximum stored energy reached 0.22 MJ with neither unexpected confinement deterioration nor visible MHD instabilities, which corresponds to β = 0.7%. Energy confinement times reached a maximum of 0.17 s. A favourable dependence of energy confinement time on density remains in the present power density (~40 kW/m3) and electron density (3 × 1019 m-3) regimes, unlike the L mode in tokamaks. Although power degradation and significant density dependence are similar to the conditions on existing medium sized helical devices, the absolute value is enhanced by up to about 50% from the International Stellarator Scaling 95. Temperatures of both electrons and ions as high as 200 eV were observed at the outermost flux surface, which indicates a qualitative jump in performance compared with that of helical devices to date. Spontaneously generated toroidal currents indicate agreement with the physical picture of neoclassical bootstrap currents. Change of magnetic configuration due to the finite β effect was well described by 3-D MHD equilibrium analysis. A density pump-out phenomenon was observed in hydrogen discharges, which was mitigated in helium discharges with high recycling.

This paper presents an experiment in which the phase- and amplitude-flattened output of a 168 GHz gyrotron was converted into the HE/sub 11/ mode, the basic transmitting mode in corrugated waveguides, by means of an external matching box (MBOX) comprising two curved-surface mirrors. In estimating the coupling efficiency between the gyrotron output wave and the HE/sub 11/ mode, an improved method was proposed in which the reconstructed phase of the gyrotron output wave at four distances are averaged. From the phase reconstruction with averaging, it was found that 76% of the gyrotron output coupled into the HE/sub 11/ mode in a corrugated waveguide, while a coupling efficiency of 85% was calculated for an ideal gyrotron output. A detailed discussion on the MBOX performance as well as the accuracy of phase reconstruction shows that this low coupling efficiency is due to the nonideality of the actual gyrotron output and that designing the MBOX mirrors based on the actual measurement at the gyrotron window can improve the coupling efficiency.

Silicon nitride composite as a candidate of a window material for high power CW (Continuous Wave) millimeter-waves was high power tested especially with a surface cooling by impinging gas nitrogen jets on the single-disk surface. Gas-cooling dramatically suppressed the temperature of the window disk even with gas flow rate of around 100 l/min. With gas cooling of 465l/min., 130kW CW power of HE11 mode could be transmitted through the silicon nitride window with a diameter of 88.9mm. The peak window temperature was completely saturated on 123.6 °C. Without gas-cooling it did not saturate and reached 323 °C during 30 seconds pulse. A possibility of 1MW CW single disk Brewster windows with a forced gas-cooling is discussed, resulting in convinced prospects of the windows with realistic size and thickness.

The mode-conversion loss in the matching between the gaussian beam emanated from the gyrotron and the hybrid mode in the circular corrugated waveguide with the diameter of 2a is discussed. By numerical calculation, it is found that the loss considerably increases and optimum waist sizew 0 changes when TEM00 mode with the wavelength λ is injected with offset or tilt. By fitting numerical data to the polynomial function, it becomes evident that the scaling formulas of the losses for the off-axis shiftr d and for the tilt angle θ are derived to be 2.3(r d /a)2 – 2.2(r d /a)4 and 3.9(aα/λ)2 – 5.6(aθ/λ)4 for fixedw 0/a=0.643, respectively. To keep the mode-conversion loss ≤1% for the frequency of 168 GHz and 2a=88.9 mm, tilting angle and offset should be less than 0.1 degrees and 2.9 mm, respectively.

An electron cyclotron heating (ECH) system for the compact helical system using two types of high power gyrotron as a power source is designed. In order to utilize fully the advantage of the ECH, the antenna system is designed so as to inject the microwave power as an elliptic gaussian beam, which allows well-defined high power local heating. This antenna and associated transmission system from gyrotron are designed with the quasi-optical concept. This design concept and the results of the cold test for the transmission and antenna system are described. The resultant beam parameter of the cold test for the antenna system shows fairly good agreement with the designed value, which indicates the validity of this design concept. The power transmission efficiency of about 90% was estimated from the measured power at both ends.

One megawatt CW (steady state operation) gyrotrons have been developed. The first gyrotron was the cavity mode output tube which demonstrated the one megawatt capability. The second tube is made by modifying the output mode to a Gaussian one by a built-in high efficiency quasi-optical mode converter. The designs, cold tests and preliminary test results are described.

The phenomenon of density pump-out or the degradation of particle confinement is observed for plasmas with electron cyclotron heating (ECH) in the compact helical system. It is confirmed that the enhancement of the particle flux with ECH is triggered by the production of electrons accelerated perpendicularly to the magnetic field with ECH.

Experimental measurements by wavepacket reflectometry are carried out to verify the low transmission loss of hybrid mode on HE11 in the corrugated waveguide with 88.9 mm in diameter. The HE11 mode is injected into the 62-m straight circular corrugated waveguide and the beat between the HE11 and HE21 (including degenerated TE01 and TM02) modes is observed. The loss is too small to measure and inferred to be less than 2 db/km. The result shows that the use of HE11 mode for electron cyclotron heating system is suitable.

The bootstrap current and electron thermal conductivity have been investigated in ECRH plasmas on the CHS heliotron/torsatron. The neoclassical transport coefficients have been externally controlled over a wide range by changing the ellipticity of the plasma cross-section. While local thermal conductivity, as well as global confinement, have shown inconsistency with the neoclassical predictions, the observed toroidal net current has been successfully explained by considering the three dimensional geometry with the available neoclassical theory. The present experimental results indicate that the transport parallel to the magnetic field lines (bootstrap current) is likely to be neoclassical but that the perpendicular transport (thermal conductivity) is anomalous, which is common in current less plasmas as well as tokamaks

Millimeter-wave components were re-examined for high power (Mega-Watt) and steady- state (greater than one hour) operation. Some millimeter-wave components, including waveguide joints, vacuum pumping sections, power monitors, sliding waveguides, and injection windows, have been improved for high power CW (Continuous Waves) transmission. To improve transmission efficiency, information about the wave phase and mode content of high power millimeter-waves propagating in corrugated waveguides, which are difficult to measure directly, were obtained by a newly developed method based on retrieved phase information. To optimize the plasma heating efficiency, a proof-of-principle study of the injection polarization feedback control was performed in the low power test stand.

Three Mega-Watt 77GHz gyrotrons were developed for an ECRH system in LHD. Their operation could be highly optimized by means of two-step rise of an anode voltage. Output power of 1.78MW with 37.9% efficiency were obtained in the 3rd gyrotron. The system improvement has been promoted including the development of a mmw-beam position and profile monitor. © 2011 IEEE.

In LHD, an ECH system for fusion-relevant plasma heating has been greatly progressed with the development of megawatt gyrotrons. Net power of 3.7 MW could be injected into LHD. For stable operation, a new position and profile monitor of the mmw-beams in evacuated transmission lines is developed. © 2010 IEEE.

A new method is proposed to analyze mode contents of high power electromagnetic waves that are propagating through corrugated waveguides in the electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECH) system for nuclear fusion devices. The method was applied to a 168 GHz transmission line of the ECH system in Large Helical Device (LHD) to evaluate the waveguide misalignment. Mode contents of the propagating wave could be well obtained, and the wave field in the waveguide was reconstructed by using the information of each mode.

We developed a 4/spl times/4 high-speed optical switch subsystem with variable optical attenuation (VOA). This switch subsystem allows high-speed level adjustment as well as high-speed switching by using the electro-optic (EO) effect of PLZT. We demonstrate 5.5-/spl mu/s switching with VOA to obtain the desired output power for optical burst switching (OBS).

We have studied two kinds of dual-mode laser diode devices with external optical input signals and found out an all-optical "digital" inverter action in each device. The MLLD-based photonic inverter exhibited extremely abrupt /spl mu/W-class switching characteristics which are expected to lead to the 2R actions in a simple and cost-effective way. We have confirmed its dynamic operation for a 155.52 Mb/s NRZ PRBS data stream and its 3 dB bandwidth of 1.8 GHz. A DFB-LD-based photonic inverter has been examined also and a little higher operation speed (2.8 GHz) has been derived in accordance with its higher relaxation oscillation frequency. We believe that this scheme has potential for practical and cost-effective applications in the future photonic networks although one needs to improve its noise suppression functionality and operation speed.

Formation of electron transport barrier and achievement of central electron temperature of more than 10 keV are confirmed by electron cyclotron heating (ECH) in LHD. These are the result of highly concentration of the deposited power. The system are described which enables these experiments and clarifying the mechanisms of the formation of electron transport barrier. The formation of the transport barrier in LHD is limited in rather low density of below 5 × 1018 m−3 so far. The efforts and their results of further optimization of ECH system for the better understanding and for the formation in wider plasma parameters of the transport barrier are also discussed.

Large Helical Device (LHD) has been started its operation from the end of March 1998. Second harmonic electron cyclotron heating (ECH) is used as a plasma production and heating. Three gyrotrons have been used at the frequency range of 84 GHz as power sources. Up to 420 kW power with the pulse length of 0.5 sec has been injected in LHD via long distance corrugated waveguide transmission system. The antenna system composed of four mirrors for each line focuses the microwave beam with the 15 mm in 1/e waist radius on the midplane of LHD in the radial direction that enables the local power deposition. The maximum stored energy with using only second harmonic ECH recorded so far is 36 kJ at the averaged density of ne,ave=1.5×1019 m−3. The maximum central electron temperature Te0=2 keV is achieved at ne,ave=3×1018 m−3. Power modulation experiments are carried out mainly to estimate the power deposition profile using ECE radiometer. The initial ICRF heating experiment was also carried out using a pair of loop a...

A 90-degree miter bend with movable circular corrugated waveguide is designed for the purpose of outdoor use. The waveguide can slide in the circular smooth waveguide arm joined together with the bend. An analysis based on the superposition of plane wave, mode matching and phase correction is carried out. The result shows that the content of HE 11 mode in the output corrugated waveguide is more than 99%. To calculate radiation pattern on a plane which is non-parallel with the aperture the new method is developed. By using the reflectometry with wavepacket propagation, it is confirmed experimentally that an attenuation constant of HE 11 in the corrugated waveguide with 88.9mm in diameter is less than 2 db/km as expected from the theory.

Collective Thomson scattering (CTS) diagnostic requires a strong probing beam to diagnose a bulk and fast ion distribution function in fusion plasmas. A mega-watt gyrotron for electron cyclotron resonance heating is used as a probing beam in the large helical device. Spurious mode oscillations are often observed during the turning on/off phase of the modulation. The frequency spectra of the 77-GHz gyrotron output power have been measured, and then one of the spurious modes, which interferes with the CTS receiver system, is identified as the TE(17,6) mode at the frequency of 74.7 GHz. The mode competition calculation indicates that the increase of the magnetic field strength at the gyrotron resonator can avoid such a spurious mode and excite only the main TE(18,6) mode. The spurious radiation at the 74.7 GHz is experimentally demonstrated to be suppressed in the stronger magnetic field than that optimized for the high-power operation.

Frequency measurements at 74-80GHz were conducted for the identification and suppression of spurious modes from the 77-GHz gyrotron, which was originally introduced as a power source for electron cyclotron resonance heating and is now also used as a probe beam for the collective Thomson scattering (CTS) diagnostic. The spurious modes are excited as the gyrotron output power is turned on and off by controlling the anode voltage. These modes are harmful for the CTS diagnostic, even though their power is less than approximately 50 dB below than that of the main mode. The measured frequency of one of the spurious modes is approximately 74.7GHz. The cavity structure, starting current calculation, and mode competition calculation suggest that the spurious mode is the TE17,6 mode. The result is important for optimizing the gyrotron operation as a CTS probe beam and suppressing or minimizing the spurious mode excitation. © 2012 The Japan Society of Plasma Science and Nuclear Fusion Research.

The transition of a radial electric field from a negative to a positive value is observed in the compact helical system when the electron loss is sufficiently enhanced by the superposition of the off-axis second harmonic electron cyclotron heating on the neutral beam heated plasmas. Existence of the threshold for the enhanced particle flux required to cause the transition is experimentally certified. The observed threshold is compared with a theoretical prediction.

A new method is proposed to analyze the mode content of high power electromagnetic waves that are propagating through corrugated waveguides in the electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECH) systems for nuclear fusion devices. The method was applied to the 168 GHz transmission line of the ECH system in the Large Helical Device (LHD) to evaluate the waveguide alignment. The mode content of the propagating waves could be accurately analyzed using this method. Furthermore, the wave field in the waveguide was reconstructed using the mode content information obtained for each mode.

The polarization state of a wave is an important factor in electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) and current drive (ECCD), for it strongly affects the propagation and absorption of the wave in the plasma. A real-time monitor of the polarization of the EC beam has been developed for use in ECRH/ECCD experiments in large helical device (LHD). Two orthogonal components of the wave field are measured in one of the miter-bends by use of a specially designed coupler and a waveguide circuit with a 0°–90° phase switch to deduce the polarization parameters: the polarization angle α and the ellipticity β. Since fast-response pin diodes are used for the switches, the polarization is determined every 3 ms, facilitating real time acquisition of the polarization. This article reports on the design and the principle of this monitor as well as on the algorithm used to calculate α and β. This article also reports on the method of calibration, for the accuracy of this measurement depends on it. Finally, a comparison ...

Extremely abrupt and highly sensitive all-optical inverter characteristics were brought about in a fairly simple manner with a modelocked laser diode of dual optical modes employed. In addition to the excellent static characteristics, a 155 Mbit/s inverter action was confirmed in a preliminary dynamic experiment.

A new technique for local magnetic field measurement in a bumpy torus NBT‐1M (which is a magnetic plasma confinement device) has been developed using a rapid‐frequency‐scan (RAFS) laser system combined with sodium atomic beam probing. The RAFS laser beam excites the sodium D1 transition in the plasma cavity, and the Zeeman pattern is determined with laser fluorescence spectroscopy in a single laser shot. From the Zeeman splitting, the transient magnetic field distribution in the plasma, produced by electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECH), is measured with an accuracy of ±3.2%, a spatial resolution of 5 mm, and a temporal resolution of 5 μs.

The electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECH) system in the Large Helical Device consists of nine gyrotrons: two that are 82.7 GHz, 0.45 MW, and 2 s; two that are 84 GHz, 0.8 MW, and 3 s; one that...