Search

Future fusion power plants will require for plasma heating and noninductive current drive high-power gyrotrons, each of which generates 2 MW of continuous-wave microwave power, while another 2 MW in the spent electron beam is dissipated as heat on the collector wall. In today’s 1-MW continuous-wave gyrotrons, collector coils superimpose an ac (10–50 Hz) magnetic field to sweep the hot spots of spent electrons over a large area. However, to double today’s power, it will also be critical to reduce the hot spot dwell time preventing significant increase of material fatigue. This can be achieved by increasing the sweeping frequency. However, a higher frequency magnetic field would hardly penetrate the metallic collector vessel due to eddy currents. Instead of magnetic field, sweeping with electric fields is proposed for the first time. The presented mechanism is capable to apply several orders higher sweeping frequency to reduce the periodic variation of temperature, and thus, the device lifetime can be extended.

The multistage depressed collector (MDC) is essential to significantly increase the overall efficiency of the gyrotron. To date, a short pulse (SP) MDC prototype system has been manufactured and is currently under test. The long-term goal that makes the most sense is to use MDCs on 2-MW fusion gyrotrons in continuous wave (CW) operation. To achieve this, a CW MDC system based on the same physical principle as the SP system is designed and analyzed for the first time. The highlights of this design are the sweeping systems to keep the thermal loading within an acceptable limit when the MDC is operated in CW. In the present analysis, the expected performance and size of the new CW MDC design are compared with that of the SP MDC prototype and with the corresponding single-stage depressed collectors (SDCs) as a reference. In addition, the effects of thermal expansion in CW operation are analyzed and discussed.

State-of-the-art vacuum electron tubes such as gyrotrons, deliver RF output powers up to more than 2 MW at frequencies up to 170 GHz. In terms of the very high power levels, a proper verification of the gyrotron components itself and measurements during gyrotron operation are vital to prevent possible fatal errors. Several basic RF measurement setups, which are used at IHM/KIT, are discussed. Currently, their upper frequency limit is 175 GHz. In terms of future gyrotron operation above 200 GHz, upgrades of the measurement setups for operation up to 260–330 GHz are prepared. The experimental devices discussed herein are a quasi-optical mode generator for the verification of the quasi-optical gyrotron output system, the window measurement test stand to verify the ceramic gyrotron output window and the frequency diagnostic system to measure the operating frequency and thereby the excited mode.

The second variant of the electron cyclotron heating and current drive system in DEMO considers the deployment of 2 MW power Gaussian microwave beams to the plasma by frequency steering. Broadband optical grade chemical vapor deposition diamond windows are thus required. The Brewster-angle window represents the primary choice. However, in the case of showstoppers, the double-disk window is the backup solution. This window concept was used at ASDEX Upgrade for injection of up to 1 MW at four frequencies between 105 and 140 GHz. This paper shows computational fluid dynamics conjugated heat transfer and structural analyses of such a circumferentially water-cooled window design aiming to check whether it might be used for DEMO microwave beam scenarios. This design was then characterized with respect to different parameters. Temperature and thermal stress results showed that it is a feasible window solution for DEMO, but safety margins against limits shall be increased by introducing design features able to make the fluid more turbulent. A first design change is proposed, showing that, in combination with a higher inlet flow rate, the maximum temperature in the disks can be reduced from 238 to 186 °C, leading, therefore, to lower thermal gradients and stresses in the window.

The existing KIT 2 MW 170 GHz coaxial-cavity short-pulse pre-prototype gyrotron is being prepared to be upgraded towards multi-frequency operation at 170/204 GHz in the new FULGOR test facility. Therefore, each existing component was examined for the need for modification. A new anode, an elongation of the coaxial insert, the XY -table, and the HV oil tank have to be modified for the first operation. All required components are already manufactured and are prepared for assembly. In the first short-pulse experiments an RF output powers of 2.2 and 1.7 MW can be expected at 170 and 204 GHz, respectively. In a second experimental campaign the coaxial-cavity and the quasi-optical output system will be replaced for an optimized configuration achieving more than 2 MW RF output power at both frequencies.

In the previous divertor campaign, the Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) device injected 3.6 MW of neutral beam heating power allowing for the achievement of densities approaching 2 × 1020 m−3, and providing the first initial assessment of fast ion confinement in a drift optimized stellarator. The neutral beam injection (NBI) system on W7-X is comprised of two beam boxes with space for four radio frequency sources each. The 3.6 MW of heating reported in this work was achieved with two sources in the NI21 beam box. The effect of combined electron-cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) and NBI was explored through a series of discharges varying both NBI and ECRH power. Discharges without ECRH saw a linear increase in the line-integrated plasma density, and strong peaking of the core density, over the discharge duration. The presence of 1 MW of ECRH power was found to be sufficient to control a continuous density rise during NBI operation. Simulations of fast ion wall loads were found to be consistent with experimental infrared camera images during operation. In general, NBI discharges were free from the presence of fast ion induced Alfvénic activity, consistent with low beam betas. These experiments provide data for future scenario development and initial assessment of fast-ion confinement in W7-X, a key topic of the project.

Continuous Wave gyrotrons are the key elements for Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating and Current Drive (ECRH&CD) in present fusion experiments and future fusion reactors. In the frame of the EUROfusion activities, a 170 GHz, 2 MW short-pulse (∼ 1 ms), water-cooled coaxial gyrotron, already tested at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), is being upgraded for operation at longer pulses (∼ 100–1000 ms). Here we use the MUlti-physiCs tool for the integrated simulation of the CAvity (MUCCA), recently developed in collaboration between Politecnico di Torino and KIT, to analyze the evolution of the operating condition of the coaxial gyrotron cavity, self-consistently coupling thermal-hydraulic, thermo-mechanical and electro-dynamic models. The main results are presented in terms of evolution of temperature, heat load and deformation of the heated surface of the resonator and of the coaxial insert during the first few seconds of operation. We show that the system evolves towards stable operating conditions (no beam loss), with a peak temperature strongly dependent on the cooling configuration, where a large room for the improvement of the current cavity cooling design is found.

The optimized superconducting stellarator device Wendelstein 7-X (with major radius , minor radius , and plasma volume) restarted operation after the assembly of a graphite heat shield and 10 inertially cooled island divertor modules. This paper reports on the results from the first high-performance plasma operation. Glow discharge conditioning and ECRH conditioning discharges in helium turned out to be important for density and edge radiation control. Plasma densities of with central electron temperatures were routinely achieved with hydrogen gas fueling, frequently terminated by a radiative collapse. In a first stage, plasma densities up to were reached with hydrogen pellet injection and helium gas fueling. Here, the ions are indirectly heated, and at a central density of a temperature of with was transiently accomplished, which corresponds to with a peak diamagnetic energy of and volume-averaged normalized plasma pressure . The routine access to high plasma densities was opened with boronization of the first wall. After boronization, the oxygen impurity content was reduced by a factor of 10, the carbon impurity content by a factor of 5. The reduced (edge) plasma radiation level gives routinely access to higher densities without radiation collapse, e.g. well above line integrated density and central temperatures at moderate ECRH power. Both X2 and O2 mode ECRH schemes were successfully applied. Core turbulence was measured with a phase contrast imaging diagnostic and suppression of turbulence during pellet injection was observed.

In high-power fusion gyrotrons, the maximum heat-load on the wall of the interaction section is in the order of 2 kW/cm2, which is the major limiting technological factor for output power and pulse-length of the tube. The ongoing gyrotron development demands a very effective cavity cooling system for optimum gyrotron operation. In this work, the experimental investigation of a mini-channel cavity cooling using a mock-up test set-up is described. The mock-up test set-up will be used to experimentally validate the predictive simulation results and verify the mini-channel cooling performance. It is crucial for validation of the mini-channel cooling properties to determine the amount of the heat load introduced in the cavity wall by an induction heater. In order to estimate that heat load, full 3D electromagnetic simulations have been performed using the CST Studio Suite® software. A suitable calibration factor for the load deposited in the mock-up inner wall is identified after numerical investigation by a 3D thermal model. Calorimetry measurements are performed and the experimental results are compared with the simulation results obtained with a 3D thermal-hydraulic model, using the commercial software STAR-CCM+. When the calibration factor is applied, the experimental calorimetry is well reproduced by the simulations.

The key for a significant increase of the gyrotron efficiency is the development of an efficient multistage depressed collector (MDC) for the annular spent electron beam. During the past years, many different design approaches based on $E \times \mathrm{B}$ drift concept have been theoretically investigated at KIT. The next step towards the experimental validation of such an MDC is the development of a prototype. The complexity of the mechanical design of the MDC is strongly dependent on the size of the electrodes, the manufacturing possibilities of individual parts, the electric field distribution, etc. Considering all those factors, an MDC system has been optimized in order to significantly reduce the manufacturing complexity of the prototype. As a result, a significant smaller and simpler conceptual design for the MDC system is presented.

The fundamental behavior of the W7-X island divertor under detached conditions, which has been theoretically predicted with the EMC3-Eirene code, is re-examined here under the experimental conditions achieved so far and compared with the first experimental results. Both simulations and experiments cover a range of divertor configurations and plasma parameters, and show the following common trends: (1) with rising impurity radiation, the target heat load decreases ‘uniformly’ over the entire target surface in the sense that both the peak and average heat loads can drop by an order of magnitude. Impurity radiation (mainly from intrinsic carbon) occurs primarily at the plasma edge and the resulting negative impact on the stored energy is less than 10%. (2) When the total radiation exceeds a critical level, the target particle flux (the recycling flux Γrecy) begins to fall and can drop by a factor of 3–5 at high radiation levels without an obvious indication of significant volume recombination. (3) While Γrecy decreases, the divertor neutral pressure continues to build up and reaches a maximum, at which point Γrecy has declined significantly. (4) During detachment, the electron temperature at the last closed flux surface falls in a way that is not quantitatively understandable from parallel classical heat conduction processes. This paper presents a physical explanation of the numerical/experimental results described above. Furthermore, using the EMC3-Eirene code as a diagnostic tool, we are able, apparently for the first time, to provide a full quantitative analysis of each transport channel in the island divertor, aiming to clarify how the island divertor plasma self-regulates to maintain particle, energy, and momentum balance under detached conditions.

openaire: EC/H2020/633053/EU//EUROfusion An Electron Cyclotron Wave (ECW) system will be used in the European DEMO for the stabilization of Neoclassical Tearing Modes (NTMs). In order to avoid movable mirrors in the harsh environment close to the plasma and to simplify the NTM launcher integration, the tuning of the ECW deposition location can be achieved by launching frequency-tunable ECWs from fixed mirrors while the frequency is tuned in discrete steps of 2–3GHz. An overview of the frequency step-tunable ECW system for NTM stabilization is presented. The design considerations are discussed based on the current DEMO baseline parameters and the status of technologies. A simulation of NTM stabilization with an idealized frequency tunable ECW system on an analytical NTM model is shown. The simulation takes into account a realistic tuning speed based on the present technology and considers the current NTM launcher configurations in DEMO. A simple sweeping strategy is adapted for the control of frequency. Various uncertainties, which will affect the feasibility, need to be further investigated.

An off-the-shelf Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) system is used to stabilize the free-running oscillation frequencies of the 140 GHz, 1 MW CW gyrotrons of the companies Thales, France, and CPI, USA, that both operate at the ECRH system of the Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) stellarator at IPP Greifswald, Germany. Both tubes are equipped with diode-type Magnetron Injection Guns (MIGs). Considering each of both type of gyrotrons as a Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO), each individual gyrotron is controlled by the variation of the body voltage. The results of the experiments demonstrate the capability of the developed and implemented inexpensive off-the-shelf PLL system. It is possible to stabilize the oscillation frequency within a full -20 dB bandwidth of < 100 kHz. Applications such as Collective Thomson Scattering (CTS) systems to accurately diagnose the ions in fusion plasmas could benefit from this development in future.

The European fusion reactor research facility, called International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), is one of the most challenging projects that involves design and testing of hundreds of separately designed reactor elements and peripheric modules. One of the core elements involved in plasma heating are gyrotrons. They are used as a microwave source in electron–cyclotron resonance heating systems (ECRH) for variable injection of RF power into the plasma ring. In this work, the development and application of an alumina-titania 60/40 mixed oxide ceramic absorber coating on a copper cylinder is described. The cylinder is part of a dummy load used in gyrotron testing and its purpose is to absorb microwave radiation generated by gyrotrons during testing phase. The coating is applied by means of atmospheric plasma spraying (APS). The absorber coating is deposited on the inner diameter of a one-meter cylindrical tube. To ensure homogeneous radiation absorption when the incoming microwave beam is repeatedly scattered along the inner tube surface, the coating shows a varying thickness as a function of the tube length. By this it is ensured that the thermal power is distributed homogeneously on the entire inner tube surface. This paper describes a modeling approach of the coating thickness distribution, the manufacturing concept for the internal plasma spray coating and the coating characterization with regard to coating microstructure and microwave absorption characteristics.

The pre-conceptual layout for an electron cyclotron system (ECS) in DEMO is described. The present DEMO ECS considers only equatorial ports for both plasma heating and neoclassical tearing mode (NTM) control. This differs from ITER, where four launchers in upper oblique ports are dedicated to NTM control and one equatorial EC port for heating and current drive (H&CD) purposes as basic configuration. Rather than upper oblique ports, DEMO has upper vertical ports to allow the vertical removal of the large breeding blanket segments. While ITER is using front steering antennas for NTM control, in DEMO the antennas are recessed behind the breeding blanket and called mid-steering antennas, referred to the radially recessed position to the breeding blanket. In the DEMO pre-conceptual design phase two variants are studied to integrate the ECS in equatorial ports. The first option integrates waveguide bundles at four vertical levels inside EC port plugs with antennas with fixed and movable mid-steering mirrors that are powered by gyrotrons, operating at minimum two different multiples of the fundamental resonance frequency of the microwave output window. Alternatively, the second option integrates fixed antenna launchers connected to frequency step-tunable gyrotrons. The first variant is described in this paper, introducing the design and functional requirements, presenting the equatorial port allocation, the port plug design including its maintenance concept, the basic port cell layout, the transmission line system with diamond windows from the tokamak up to the RF building and the gyrotron sources. The ECS design studies are supported by neutronic and tokamak integration studies, quasi-optical and plasma physics studies, which will be summarized. Physics and technological gaps will be discussed and an outlook to future work will be given.

In anticipation of an Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating system upgrade for the stellarator Wendelstein 7-X, a 1.5 MW – 140 GHz continuous-wave gyrotron is under development. In order to provide a first experimental verification of the scientific RF and electron beam optics design of the gyrotron with ms pulses, the Karlsruhe Intitule of Technology has developed a short-pulse pre-prototype gyrotron. In this work, we present details regarding the construction of the pre-prototype as well as measurements from the first experimental campaign delivering up to 1.6 MW in short pulses.

A first theoretical study on the possibility for stepwise frequency tuning of a dual-frequency 170/204 GHz TE 34,19 /TE 40,23 -mode coaxial-cavity gyortron pre-prototype, under development at KIT, has been done. A bandwidth of ± 10 GHz around both center frequencies has been considered as tuning range. For each of the two bands, in total 11 modes have been selected to cover the entire frequency range. The theoretical study has shown that just changing the azimuthal index of the operating mode to obtain an appropriate mode series for frequency step-tunability is insufficient because the insert loading constraint is not fulfilled. A new mode series has been found, where the insert loading constraint is obeyed.

The Collective Thomson Scattering (CTS) diagnostic measures the scattering spectrum of incident radiation off collective fluctuations in plasmas. In Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) the diagnostic uses a 140 GHz heating gyrotron as a source of the probing radiation. At this frequency, the CTS spectra are heavily affected by the electron cyclotron emission, and the microwave beam propagation is restricted at typical W7-X plasma parameters. The diagnostic was successfully commissioned in the last experimental campaign and demonstrated ion temperature measurements. However, the signal-to-noise ratio was too low for measuring other quantities such as the fast-ion velocity distribution function or the fuel ion ratio. Currently, the W7-X CTS diagnostic is undergoing an upgrade to a frequency of 175 GHz. This will increase the sensitivity of the diagnostic, since the noise due to electron cyclotron emission will be reduced, and it will relax the constraints on microwave beam propagation in W7-X. Here we present the salient features of the upgraded CTS system and discuss its prospects for both thermal-ion and fast-ion measurements.

A research activity in the Institute for Plasma Science and Technology of National Research Council (ISTP-CNR, Italy, former IFP-CNR) and in L.T. Calcoli (LTC, Italy) is aimed at the design and construction of calorimetric loads for absorption and measurement of high power millimeter-waves in the electron cyclotron frequency range. Recently, two CW 170 GHz loads, one for the European ITER gyrotron test facility and the other for the FALCON test- bed, have been installed at the Swiss Plasma Center (SPC, Switzerland). One short pulse (2 s) load for 1 MW, designed and optimised to operate at two different frequencies (84 GHz and 126 GHz), was provided for testing and conditioning two new dual-frequency gyrotrons for the Tokamak a Configuration Variable (TCV, Switzerland). Two additional CW loads, designed for absorbing powers higher than 1 MW, have been delivered to the National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology (QST, Japan) and exploited for the acceptance tests and the conditioning of the prototype of the Japanese ITER gyrotron. The present status and the most recent experimental results achieved in the framework of this development activity are reported in the paper.

To increase the total injected Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ECRH) power in the plasma of the nuclear fusion experiment Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X), an upgrade of the existing gyrotron installation is in progress. The existing ECRH system, currently equipped with ten one-MW-class, 140 GHz continuous wave (CW) gyrotrons, will be augmented by enhanced 1.5 MW tubes, which are based on the successful existing 1 MW gyrotron design.

The KIT 170 GHz – 2 MW longer-pulse coaxial-cavity gyrotron is continuously upgraded with the goal to reach 1 s pulses with a modular construction. In this work, we present the latest experimental results that were achieved after modifications on the mirror-box, the collector and the cooling system of the gyrotron. In particular, it was possible to demonstrate pulses with output power up to 2 MW and pulse lengths up to 50 ms.

The 10 MW electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) system at the stellarator Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) currently relies on the successful operation of continuous wave (CW) 1 MW, 140 GHz gyrotrons which have chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond output windows cooled by the industrial silicon oil Dow Corning 200(R) 5 cSt. The window features a 1.8 mm thick diamond disk brazed to two copper cuffs with an aperture of 88 mm, which are then integrated in a steel housing. In the context of the upgrade of the ECRH system towards higher microwave power, this gyrotron design has been significantly advanced to fulfill the requirement of 1.5 MW CW operation, still at 140 GHz. A prototype of this new gyrotron is under development at Thales, France. This paper reports the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) conjugated heat transfer and structural analyses of the diamond window performed using the commercial code ANSYS V19.2 to investigate its performance at 1.5 MW operation. Furthermore, sensitivity studies were also carried out with respect to the absorbed power in the disk and the mm-wave beam radius at the window location. These analyses showed that the window design of the existing 1 MW gyrotrons still works quite well at higher power operation, thus verifying the performance of the window. Even in the worst case scenario of 1.5 kW absorbed power, the maximum temperature of 215 °C at the disk center can be safely accepted, being below the conservative limit of 250 °C for CVD diamond. In addition, the non-axial symmetric thermal gradients due to the geometry of the cooling channels lead to thermal stresses in the disk and the cuffs. However, they are much lower than the limits. The copper cuffs experience plasticity deformation in the region of the interface with the diamond disk up to a value of about 1.5 mm.

High-power gyrotrons may suffer from parasitic oscillations that are excited in the electron-beam compression zone. Different damping structures are proposed in the literature that reduce the possibility of parasitic excitation by increasing the starting currents of the modes. In this work, we focus on a dielectric-loaded (stacked) beam tunnel. Based on our previous theoretical studies, we make targeted modifications to the beam tunnel in order to classify the parasitic signals and localize the areas where they are excited. After two successive modifications, the beam tunnel exhibits improved behavior with higher starting currents of the parasitic modes. The experiments are performed by using a modular 170-GHz, 1-MW short-pulse gyrotron, which due to its flanged construction gives the possibility to modify the beam tunnel without affecting the rest of the tube.

Single-stage depressed collector systems are widely used in high-power gyrotrons in order to increase the overall efficiency. The position where the deceleration of the beam takes place influences the collector efficiency. In this paper, several deceleration schemes are numerically investigated for the short-pulse prototype of the 170-GHz, 1-MW European gyrotron for International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor. The results of this paper are in a qualitative agreement with the results of dedicated experiments. A simple idea is also proposed for the significant increase of the overall gyrotron efficiency without an important technological modification.

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is doing research and development in the field of megawatt-class radio frequency (RF) sources (gyrotrons) for the Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ECRH) systems of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) and the DEMOnstration Fusion Power Plant that will follow ITER. In the focus is the development and verification of the European coaxial-cavity gyrotron technology which shall lead to gyrotrons operating at an RF output power significantly larger than 1 MW CW and at an operating frequency above 200 GHz. A major step into that direction is the final verification of the European 170 GHz 2 MW coaxial-cavity pre-prototype at longer pulses up to 1 s. It bases on the upgrade of an already existing highly modular short-pulse (ms-range) pre-prototype. That pre-prototype has shown a world record output power of 2.2 MW already. This paper summarizes briefly the already achieved experimental results using the short-pulse pre-prototype and discusses in detail the design and manufacturing process of the upgrade of the pre-prototype toward longer pulses up to 1 s.

An iterative procedure is described, which models the influence of the thermal expansion of the gyrotron cavity on the expected gyrotron performance. It is a multiphysics simulation method, which involves electrodynamic, thermal-hydraulic, and thermo-mechanical simulations. The method is applied to the first European 170-GHz, 1-MW continuous wave prototype gyrotron for the ITER. According to the simulations, a performance reduction of ~15% is expected at nominal operating parameters, because of the thermal expansion of the cavity. Alternative operating points to mitigate this effect are proposed and numerically validated. The numerical results are discussed in light of experimental findings.

In recent years Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ECRH) has become the prime heating system on most fusion machines, due to the availability of gyrotrons and transmission systems as reliable high power microwave sources. The Institute of Pulsed Power and Microwave Heating (IHM) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is at the center of European efforts in developing such gyrotrons, in collaboration with European industry and other research institutions. Two years ago, KIT has started the construction of a new gyrotron test facility FULGOR (Fusion Long Pulse Laboratory), which should satisfy the demands gyrotron testing poses over the next 2–3 decades. The paper describes the capabilities of FULGOR and the progress made in its construction.

The magnetron injection gun (MIG) is the most critical part of any gyrotron. Small tolerances in the manufacturing process and alignment of the subcomponents directly affect the electron beam quality and therefore the beam wave interaction. At the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), an innovative new Inverse MIG (IMIG) is proposed for the European 2-MW 170-GHz coaxial-cavity gyrotronwhich is under the developmentand test at KIT. The design of the IMIG has been done under strict consideration of the gun design criteria published earlier. In order to find the maximum allowed tolerances of that IMIG which allows operation within the allowed gun design criteria, systematic theoretical studies have been done. Commonly used “conventional” MIGs have been shown that a small emitter, anode, and cathodemisalignment have a significant influence to the electron beam quality.

A numerical synthesis method for the optimization of launchers with hybrid-type wall surface for high-power fusion gyrotrons is proposed in this paper. The profile of such a launcher is built from a novel combination of a periodic harmonic wall perturbation followed by a mirror-line-type deformation, so we named it hybrid-type launcher. The synthesis method has been tested to design a hybrid-type launcher to transform the TE32,9 mode of the ITER EU 1-MW gyrotron operating at 170 GHz. The simulation results show that the fundamental Gaussian mode content (FGMC) of the millimeter-wave beam at the radiating aperture of the hybrid-type launcher is approximately 99.1%. In comparison with the corresponding harmonically deformed launcher, the simulations results reveal that the launcher with hybrid-type surface contour provides higher conversion efficiency combined with low diffraction loss (0.7%). The computation time for the design of hybrid-type launchers is just half of that for mirror-line launchers. In the case of not very short launchers, hybrid-type launchers can provide high FGMCs of RF beams with low diffraction losses that are comparable with those of mirror-line launchers.

In order to evaluate the emission inhomogeneity of thermionic gyrotron cathode emitters, a novel definition of emission inhomogeneity and evaluating method from the current–voltage characteristics is described in this paper. Results for three different types of gyrotron oscillators at different emitter temperatures based on experimental data and mathematical treatment are considered in the investigation. The influence of emission inhomogeneity on gyrotron efficiency is numerically calculated using the 3-D codes ARIADNE and EURIDICE. The emitter inhomogeneity upper limits for the distributions of work function, temperature, and electric field are given at the end of this paper.

The DEMO-relevant gyrotron research at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology is driven by the European concept for a demonstration fusion reactor (EU DEMO). This paper reports on the recent results of the theoretical and experimental studies towards the development of gyrotrons fulfilling the DEMO needs.

The status of the THALES 140 GHz 1 MW CW industrial gyrotron program for the W7-X stellarator is discussed in this paper. The industrial design and performances arc briefly discussed with a focus on the tube reliability and endurance.

High-power, high-frequency gyrotrons are the only promising sources for the electron cyclotron resonance heating and current drive (ECRH&CD) in the present thermonuclear fusion plasma experiments and in future power plants. Compared to the hollow-cavity gyrotron design, the coaxial cavity gyrotron design facilitates improved mode competition control, which eventually increases the output power per tube. At KIT-IHM, the successful operation of a 170-GHz gyrotron has been demonstrated in the short-pulse regime, and the ongoing research activities are aiming to upgrade the existing coaxial cavity gyrotron from short-pulse (1–10 ms) to long-pulse (~ 1s) operation. In this paper, with the help of multiphysics simulations, the performance of the insert cooling system is verified for the continuous wave (CW) operation and the operating limits of the insert cooling systems are determined. The perfectly aligned coaxial Glidcop insert will be able to withstand operating conditions leading to a maximal heat flux of about 0.39 kW/cm2. The influence of insert misalignment on insert loading is also studied systematically in this paper.

The generation of a specific high-order mode with excellent mode purity in a highly oversized cylindrical waveguide is mandatorily required for the verification of high-power components at sub-THz frequencies. An example is the verification of quasi-optical mode conversion and output systems for fusion gyrotrons. A rotating high-order mode can be excited by taking a low-power RF source (e.g. RF network analyser) and by injecting the RF power via a horn antenna into a specific adjustable quasi-optical setup, the so-called mode generator. The manual adjustment of the mode generator is typically very time-consuming. An automatized adjustment using intelligent algorithms can solve this problem. In the present work, the intelligent algorithms consist of five different mode evaluation techniques to determine the azimuthal and radial mode indices, the quality factor, the scalar mode content and the amount of the counter-rotating mode. Here, the implemented algorithms, the design of the computer-controlled mechanical adjustment and test results are presented. The new system is benchmarked using an existing TE28,8 mode cavity operating at 140 GHz. In addition, the repeatability of the algorithms has been proven by measuring a newly designed TE28,10 mode generator cavity. Using the described advanced mode generator system, the quality of the excited modes has been significantly improved and the time for the proper adjustment has been reduced by at least a factor of 10.

The proper alignment of the electron beam with the interaction cavity is essential in order to achieve efficient operation of modern high-power, high-frequency gyrotrons. However, tolerances, manufacturing, and magnetic field alignment errors may lead to the less optimal positioning of the electron beam in the gyrotron cavity. In this paper, we describe in detail the in-house design and development of a simple and low-cost prototype gyrotron-alignment XY-table, which can be used for the optimization of the alignment of the electron beam with the cavity axis. The efficient operation of the device is verified experimentally by operating the European ITER 170-GHz, 1-MW short-pulse prototype gyrotron in the Oxford Instruments superconducting magnet that is available at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology gyrotron test-stand and is equipped with a set of dipole coils.

A quasi-optical mode converter is under development for an 170/204 GHz coaxial-cavity gyrotron at KIT. It is operated in the TE$_{\mathbf {34,19}}$ mode at 170 GHz and the TE$_{\mathbf {40,23}}$ mode at 204 GHz. A mirror-line launcher should be used for such modes with the ratio of caustic to launcher radius of approximately 0.32. The optimum value of the launcher radius has been found to allow for a high Gaussian-mode content at both frequencies.

The KIT 170 GHz $\mathbf{TE}_{\pmb{34,19}}$ -mode coaxial-cavity gyrotron has been studied for an upgrade towards a dual- or even triple frequency operation at 170/204/(238) GHz. For this reason, the electron magnetron injection gun (MIG), the cavity and the launcher are simulated for operation with the $\mathbf{TE}_{\pmb{40,23}}$ -mode and $\mathbf{TE}_{\pmb{48,26}}$ -mode at 204 GHz and 238 GHz, respectively. A modification of the coaxial-cavity midsection length leads to an increase of the theoretical RF output power from 1.6 MW to around 2.1 MW at 204 GHz. Further, first experimental cold tests using a mode generator setup, show a successful excitation of the $\mathbf{TE}_{\pmb{40,23}}$ -mode, which is the highest-order mode ever excited.

Gyrotron R&D within the EUROfusion Work Package Heating and Current Drive (WPHCD) is addressing the challenging requirements posed on gyrotrons by the European concept for a demonstration fusion power plant (EU DEMO). These requirements, as specified within WPHCD, ask for highly reliable and robust long-pulse operation of the gyrotron, delivering 2 MW of microwave power at frequencies above 200 GHz with a high overall efficiency above 60% and the option for fast frequency step-tunability. To meet these targets, which are clearly beyond today's state-of-the-art, the R&D activities within WPHCD are organized in five main branches: these are the experimental verification of the advanced coaxial gyrotron technology at long pulses, the development of a coaxial gyrotron meeting the EU DEMO requirements, the development of multi-stage depressed collectors for enhanced energy recovery, the development of large broadband diamond windows to allow fast frequency tunability of the gyrotron, and the studies on further innovations and improvement of critical gyrotron components, in view of optimization of performance, reliability, and industrialization. The paper presents the progress made on these activities, the recent results, and the near-term planning. The major recent achievements include (i) the experimental validation of the fabrication of the new, water-cooled components for the longer-pulse coaxial gyrotron at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, by demonstrating 2.2 MW at 170 GHz with 33% efficiency without depressed collector, (ii) the design of key components for a 2 MW, 170/204 GHz dual-frequency coaxial gyrotron, (iii) the design of a two-stage depressed collector with 77% efficiency, (iv) the first-ever production, in an industrial plasma reactor, of large chemical vapor deposition diamond wafers of 180mm diameter, (v) the procurement of an advanced electron gun with coated emitter edges, and (vi) advances in the theoretical and numerical modelling for investigating improved concepts for the gyrotron beam tunnel and cavity.

In Europe, the research and development with main focus on achieving robust industrial designs of series gyrotrons for electron cyclotron heating and current drive of today's nuclear fusion experiments and towards a future DEMOnstration fusion power plant is constantly progressing. The R&D is following two different paths. Both are complementing each other: Firstly, it is the adaption of the physical design and basic mechanical construction of the reliably operating 140 GHz, 1 MW CW (spec.: 920 kW, 1800 s) gyrotron of the stellarator Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X), Greifswald, Germany. With regards to time and costs it is the target to perform reliable developments of fusion gyrotrons with advanced specifications for today's plasma fusion experiments. Main focus is on the development of the first EU 170 GHz, 1 MW CW (3600 s) gyrotron for the installation in ITER, Cadarache, France. Another adaption is the dual-frequency 126/84 GHz 1 MW (2 s) gyrotron upgrade for the medium size TCV tokamak, Lausanne, Switzerland. Finally, it is the upgrade of the W7-X gyrotron design towards an RF output power per unit of up to 1.5 MW and possible dual-frequency operation by keeping the basic mechanical construction. Additional to the proven design it allows to fit the new 1.5 MW gyrotron into the already existing infrastructure and to reuse existing W7-X gyrotron auxiliaries, e. g. the high-power voltage supply (HV PS) and the superconducting (SC) magnet. The second R&D path is defined by the complementary approach with regards to development risks towards a future gyrotron which shall fulfil the significant more advanced specifications of a future EU DEMO. The starting point is the 2 MW EU/KIT coaxial-cavity gyrotron design. Main requirements are an RF output power of 2 MW CW at above 200 GHz, multiple operating frequencies, frequency step-tunability and a total efficiency above 60 %.

In high-power fusion gyrotrons., the maximum heat-load on the wall of the interaction section is in the order of 2 kW/cm2, which is the major limiting technological factor for output power., efficiency and pulse-length of the tube. The ongoing gyrotron development demands a very effective cavity cooling system for stable and optimum gyrotron operation. In this work, the thermal performance of a mini-channel cavity cooling is numerically investigated using the ANSYS Fluent®code-package. The influence of the various physical and operating parameters on the cavity cooling efficiency is systematically studied for a 170 GHz, 2 MW coaxial-cavity gyrotron and an optimized heat sink design is proposed. A mock-up test set-up is also developed to experimentally validate the simulation results.

The maximum heat load on the cavity wall of high power fusion gyrotrons is one of the major limiting technological factors for the operation of the tube. To achieve the requested output power, efficiency and pulse length, a very efficient cooling of the interaction structure is mandatory. In this work, the performance of a mini-channel cavity cooling system for a 170 GHz, 2 MW coaxial-cavity gyrotron is numerically investigated, including the development of a mock-up test set-up for experimental validation.

The future EC systems will consist of several gyrotron sources providing MW-level millimeter wave power at a frequency around or above 170 GHz. The development of matched loads is necessary to test the new sources, the components for the transmission lines and the launchers, and must ensure high qualification for compatibility with the nuclear environment. The development at IFP-CNR and LTC of several compact high-power prototypes during the last decade led to a refinement of the overall design, resulting in the present low-reflectivity vacuum-compatible loads. The activity on loads is supported by F4E in view of the development of the EU gyrotron for ITER and required high-power tests at QST (Naka, Japan). Qualification is now supported by new tests at SPC (Lausanne, Switzerland) using the FALCON test-bed designed to test components and the EU gyrotron prototype for the EC system of ITER. These high-power tests, performed on the first CW prototype load (provided with 16 + 16 cooling channels in parallel) and shown in this paper, highlighted the need to improve the mechanical, vacuum and hydraulic design to reach the final goal of 1000s at ∼1 MW.

The reliability of gyrotron operation is significantly decreased approaching the individual maximum output power of the tube due to loss of the nominal operating mode. For the first time, this paper proposes an algorithm for an automated mode recovery (MORE) for gyrotrons exploiting the hysteretic gyrotron behaviour. The algorithm has been implemented in a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) controlling the acceleration voltage and is able to recover the nominal operating mode within ≤1 ms after a mode switch to the competing satellite mode. This allows the gyrotron to be operated closer to its stability limits with extended pulse lengths at potentially higher output power. Dedicated experiments to test MORE were conducted at Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) with two gyrotrons using a beam dump. The nominal mode could be successfully recovered in 99% of 3755 modeloss events during 128 shots up to 20 s. MORE was operational for nine out of ten gyrotrons during the last experimental campaign OP1.2b of W7-X. The overall success rate during W7-X OP1.2b was 91% counting 464 modeloss events in 131 shots performed with seven gyrotrons. Using the mode losses in the working point plane, the cutoff region for the nominal working mode was identified, defining a minimum cathode current for a given acceleration voltage. The total achievable output power of the W7-X ECRH plant could be increased by at least 500 kW for the same pulse length using MORE, assuming a conservative increase of at least 50 kW per gyrotron. Comparing the output power for the same achievable pulse length and reliability level, the output power increase per gyrotron is likely in the order of 100 kW. Since MORE exploits the hysteretic gyrotron behaviour, it could be applied to other gyrotrons of already existing or future ECRH facilities of fusion experiments, like ITER.

An inverse magnetron injection gun (MIG) has been designed for the 2-MW, 170-GHz, coaxial-cavity gyrotron built at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. The inverse gun design could offer the possibility for the implementation of a larger emitter ring without the need for a bigger bore hole in the magnet compared with the conventional type of MIGs. Considering the fundamental beam parameters, an excellent beam quality has been achieved in numerical simulation. Electron-trapping suppression criteria were considered during the design phase of the MIG.

The present gyrotron designs for EC plasma heating in nuclear fusion reactors require the safe exhaust of a power comparable to that injected into the plasma, in order to keep the maximum temperature below the acceptable value of 300 °C. In this paper, the commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software STAR-CCM+® is used to analyze the thermal performance of the annular copper collector of a 1 MW ITER gyrotron, equipped with a hypervapotron structure made of annular fins with rectangular cavities of aspect ratio (depth/width) = 3, cooled by highly subcooled (90–100 °C) pressurized water flowing at ∼4 m/s. It is assumed that the simple vertical sweeping strategy is used to reduce the very high peak heat flux on the collector (up to 30 MW/m2 transient, 5 MW/m2 time average), due to the spent electron beam. The 2D steady-state conjugate heat transfer problem is solved assuming azimuthal symmetry and accounting for 2-phase flow. The single-cavity flow and heat transfer problem is considered first, to optimize the mesh and the selection of the turbulence model. For the operating conditions considered in this paper, the full collector (100+ cavities) solution shows that boiling occurs only in a limited number of cavities close to the peaks of the heat flux, with the vapor remaining trapped in the bottom of the cavities, i.e. no full hypervapotron regime should be achieved in these operating conditions. The steady-state analysis allows the numerical evaluation of the heat transfer coefficients between Cu and water; these are then used as input for the simplified, purely thermal (solid only) analysis of the actual transient problem for the full collector. The results of the simplified model, which allows a huge reduction of the computational effort, are successfully benchmarked against those of a comprehensive thermal–hydraulic simulation. The computed peak Cu temperature is below the acceptable limit under the steady-state (time averaged) heat load, but becomes unacceptably high if the actual transient heat load is considered, confirming the need for more effective sweeping strategies and/or optimized collector geometries with improved heat transfer capabilities.

Different configurations of water-cooled Cu collector for gyrotrons are investigated using the StarCCM + CFD code, aimed at optimizing its thermal–hydraulic (TH) performance. Although the current collectors show a good performance, the collector can be subjected to transient heat loads, due to the spent electron beam, of up to several tens of MW/m2, and there is an interest to increase the gyrotron output power in the future. Furthermore, an optimized cooling will lead to improved reliability and lifetime of the collector. Starting from a hypervapotron (HV)-like collector, characterized by 100+ deep rectangular cavities with aspect ratio (AR) = 3, we present in the first part of the paper a single-cavity steady-state parametric analysis of the effect of AR on the heat exhaust capabilities. The investigation is then extended to other collector designs, including circumferential ribs and dimples, in order to assess the options for further improvements of the TH performance. The peak Cu temperature is computed by the code and its minimization is the target of the present optimization exercise. A self-consistent estimate of the heat transfer coefficient between collector and coolant is also obtained, which could be useful for fatigue and lifetime assessments. In the second part of the paper the most promising collector geometries identified in the first part are analyzed in the case of a transient heat load (vertical sweeping), first at the level of a single spatial period of the collector structure, then at the full-collector level. The results of the TH transient analysis are compared with both the results of the first part and with the transient purely thermal analysis of the full collector, showing for all geometries considered in this study a room for cooling efficiency improvement with respect to the HV-like design with AR = 3, at least in the operating conditions considered for this study (V ∼ 4 m/s, almost 100 °C sub-cooling).

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is progressing in the development of a multi-megawatt class gyrotron for fusion plasma applications. After the successful experimental verification of the performance of the modular KIT 170 GHz, 2 MW short-pulse coaxial-cavity pre-prototype gyrotron with pulse lengths up to a few ms, the key gyrotron components have been upgraded by adding suitable cooling systems, keeping their previously validated scientific design. The new gyrotron construction allows the operation with pulses up to ~100 ms, however further increase of the pulse length is planned, after the installation of a diamond window and an improved collector. The basic upgrade of the individual components, the final assembly and the first experimental results are presented.