Modal analysis of the fields in the ITER ICRF antenna port plug cavity

The cavity that is formed between the ITER ICRF antenna plug and its port can exhibit resonances at specific fre-quencies, some of them in the relevant range of frequencies for IC heating. These resonances related to eigenmodes of the coaxial cavity, can substantially increase the level of electric fields inside the cavity and the level of RF losses in the B4C neutron shielding tiles at the back of the port-plug cavity can also be significant. For instance, in MWS simulations of a simplified geometry of the antenna in front of a dielectric mimicking the plasma loading, the level of RF losses in the B4C can reach tens of kW in 00ππ toroidal phasing and even larger values in monopole. RF probes will be installed to monitor the RF fields in the port plug cavity and additional simulations are required to properly assess the integration (position, orientation) and their effectiveness. A model with a very detailed geometry of the antenna was also used in Ansys HFSS and TOPICA simulations. On the one hand it is observed that the resistivity of the B4C neutron shielding material located at the back of the cavity has a marked effect on the excitation of the resonances and that for certain ranges of resistivity the numerical computation fails exhausting computer memory requirements (Ansys/HFSS) when trying to solve the total antenna and cavity problem as a single model. On the other hand lossy materials such as the B4C tiles cannot be represented in TOPICA models while a realistic plasma gyrotropic load can not be simulated in HFSS/MWS. Therefore, we introduced a modal analysis in the cavity to decouple solving the computationally intensive plasma-facing front of the launcher from the cavity. The fields computed by TOPICA for various loading conditions and frequencies are evaluated on a set of vertical planes in the cavity and expanded in a series of modal eigenmodes for a given mode of operation. This provides the necessary input for an accurate evaluation of the RF fields in the cavity in an independent model not including the antenna front-face. It will also contribute to the understanding of the impact of the relative toroidal phasing of the strap currents on the excitation of the cavity modes and to simulate accurately the response of the cavity RF probes

Simulation of cold magnetized plasmas with the 3D electromagnetic software CST Microwave Studio ®

Detailed designs of ICRF antennas were made possible by the development of sophisticated commercial 3D codes like CST Microwave Studio® (MWS). This program allows for very detailed geometries of the radiating structures, but was only considering simple materials like equivalent isotropic dielectrics to simulate the reflection and the refraction of RF waves at the vacuum/plasma interface. The code was nevertheless used intensively, notably for computing the coupling properties of the ITER ICRF antenna. Until recently it was not possible to simulate gyrotropic medias like magnetized plasmas, but recent improvements have allowed programming any material described by a general dielectric or/and diamagnetic tensor. A Visual Basic macro was developed to exploit this feature and was tested for the specific case of a monochromatic plane wave propagating longitudinally with respect to the magnetic field direction. For specific cases the exact solution can be expressed in 1D as the sum of two circularly polarized waves connected by a reflection coefficient that can be analytically computed. Solutions for stratified media can also be derived. This allows for a direct comparison with MWS results. The agreement is excellent but accurate simulations for realistic geometries require large memory resources that could significantly restrict the possibility of simulating cold plasmas to small-scale machines

Discharge initiation by ICRF antenna in IShTAR

IShTAR is a linear magnetized plasma test facility dedicated to the investigation of RF wave/plasma interaction. The IShTAR ICRF system consists of a single strap RF antenna. When using the antenna for plasma production without an external plasma source, it is shown that the plasma is either produced in front of the antenna strap or inside the antenna box depending on the antenna parameters. Here, we present experimental and numerical investigation of the plasma initiation parametric dependencies. Detailed pressure and RF power scans were performed in helium at f = 5.22 MHz and f = 42.06 MHz. The experiment shows the parameter ranges for which the plasma is produced in front of the strap, or inside the antenna box. These ranges are validated by simulations with the RFdinity model, and by theoretical predictions

SOL RF physics modelling in Europe, in support of ICRF experiments

A European project was undertaken to improve the available SOL ICRF physics simulation tools and confront them with measurements. This paper first reviews code upgrades within the project. Using the multi-physics finite element solver COMSOL, the SSWICH code couples RF full-wave propagation with DC plasma biasing over “antenna-scale” 2D (toroidal/radial) domains, via non-linear RF and DC sheath boundary conditions (SBCs) applied at shaped plasma-facing boundaries. For the different modules and associated SBCs, more elaborate basic research in RF-sheath physics, SOL turbulent transport and applied mathematics, generally over smaller spatial scales, guides code improvement. The available simulation tools were applied to interpret experimental observations on various tokamaks. We focus on robust qualitative results common to several devices: the spatial distribution of RF-induced DC bias; left-right asymmetries over strap power unbalance; parametric dependence and antenna electrical tuning; DC SOL biasing far from the antennas, and RF-induced density modifications. From these results we try to identify the relevant physical ingredients necessary to reproduce the measurements, e.g. accurate radiated field maps from 3D antenna codes, spatial proximity effects from wave evanescence in the near RF field, or DC current transport. Pending issues towards quantitative predictions are also outlined

A Test Facility to Investigate Sheath Effects during Ion Cyclotron Resonance Heating

Nuclear fusion is a promising candidate to supply energy for future generations. At the high temperatures needed for the nuclei to fuse, ions and electrons are no longer bound into atoms. Magnetic fields confine the resulting plasma. One of the heating methods is the ion cyclotron resonant absorption of waves emitted by an external Ion Cyclotron Radio Frequency (ICRF) antenna. The efficiency of ICRF heating is strongly affected by rectified RF electric fields at antenna and other in-vessel components (so-called ‘sheath effects’). The chapter presents an overview of ICRF principles. Attention is given to characterising the detrimental sheath effects through experiments on a dedicated test facility (IShTAR: Ion cyclotron Sheath Test ARrangement). IShTAR has a linear magnetic configuration and is equipped with an independent helicon plasma source. The configuration and capabilities of the test-bed and its diagnostics are described, as well as an analysis of the plasmas

Simulation of cold magnetized plasmas with the 3D electromagnetic software CST Microwave Studio®

Detailed designs of ICRF antennas were made possible by the development of sophisticated commercial 3D codes like CST Microwave Studio® (MWS). This program allows for very detailed geometries of the radiating structures, but was only considering simple materials like equivalent isotropic dielectrics to simulate the reflection and the refraction of RF waves at the vacuum/plasma interface. The code was nevertheless used intensively, notably for computing the coupling properties of the ITER ICRF antenna. Until recently it was not possible to simulate gyrotropic medias like magnetized plasmas, but recent improvements have allowed programming any material described by a general dielectric or/and diamagnetic tensor. A Visual Basic macro was developed to exploit this feature and was tested for the specific case of a monochromatic plane wave propagating longitudinally with respect to the magnetic field direction. For specific cases the exact solution can be expressed in 1D as the sum of two circularly polarized waves connected by a reflection coefficient that can be analytically computed. Solutions for stratified media can also be derived. This allows for a direct comparison with MWS results. The agreement is excellent but accurate simulations for realistic geometries require large memory resources that could significantly restrict the possibility of simulating cold plasmas to small-scale machines

Simulation of cold magnetized plasmas with the 3D electromagnetic software CST Microwave Studio

Detailed designs of ICRF antennas were made possible by the development of sophisticated commercial 3D codes like CST Microwave Studio® (MWS). This program allows for very detailed geometries of the radiating structures, but was only considering simple materials like equivalent isotropic dielectrics to simulate the reflection and the refraction of RF waves at the vacuum/plasma interface. The code was nevertheless used intensively, notably for computing the coupling properties of the ITER ICRF antenna. Until recently it was not possible to simulate gyrotropic medias like magnetized plasmas, but recent improvements have allowed programming any material described by a general dielectric or/and diamagnetic tensor. A Visual Basic macro was developed to exploit this feature and was tested for the specific case of a monochromatic plane wave propagating longitudinally with respect to the magnetic field direction. For specific cases the exact solution can be expressed in 1D as the sum of two circularly polarized waves connected by a reflection coefficient that can be analytically computed. Solutions for stratified media can also be derived. This allows for a direct comparison with MWS results. The agreement is excellent but accurate simulations for realistic geometries require large memory resources that could significantly restrict the possibility of simulating cold plasmas to small-scale machines

Advanced ponderomotive description of electron acceleration in ICRF discharge initiation

This contribution proposes a new approach for the ponderomotive description of electron acceleration in ICRF discharge initiation. The motion of electrons in the parallel electric field Ez is separated into a fast oscillation and a slower drift around the oscillation centre. Three terms are maintained in the Taylor expansion of the electric field (0th , 1st and 2nd order). The efficiency for electron acceleration by Ez (z, t) is then assessed by comparing the values of these terms at the slow varying coordinate z0 . When (i) the 0th order term is not significantly larger than 1st order term at the reflection point, or when (ii) the 2nd order term is negative and not sufficiently small compared to the 1st order term at the reflection point, then the electron will gain energy in the reflection. An example for plasma production by the TOMAS ICRF system is given. Following the described conditions it can be derived that plasma production is (i) most efficient close to the antenna straps (few cm's) where the field gradient and amplitude are large, and (ii) that the lower frequency field accelerates electrons more easily for a given antenna voltage