10 1109@ove@ec 2000 847543

18.
HIGH AVERAGE POWER MICROWAVE SOURCES

FOR FUSION RESEARCH
T. V. George, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, Department of Energy, Washington, DC
Tv.george@,science.doe.gov
Introduction
Fusion research requires heating plasmas confined by intense magnetic field to high
temperatures where thermonuclear reactions can take place. From a reactor point of view,
operation of Tokamaks with non-inductive currents using Electron Cyclotron Resonance
Heating (ECRH) is also important. Among many concepts, gyrotrons have uniquely met the
needs of the program and continue to excel meeting the increasing demand for high average
power sources. The industrial gyrotrons in the mid 70’s were rated at 28 GHz, 200 kW, cw as
compared to CPI’s current 110 GHz gyrotrons rated at 1 MW, cw. In this presentation, I will
concentrate on the advances which lead to these achievements, in particular, the principle of
operation, and design considerations of gyrotrons.
Principle of Operation of a Gvrotron
In a gyrotron, a magnetron injection gun produces an annular electron beam that is guided by a
strong magnetic field symmetrically through a cylindrical metallic cavity. The electrons spiral
in tight orbits as they travel parallel to the axis. The magnetic field strength is adjusted so that
the spiraling frequency coincides with one of the resonant modes of the cavity and the cavity
diameter is so chosen that the electromagnetic wave at that frequency is close to cutoff. The
design of the gun and the magnetic field profile is such that the rotational velocity of the
electrons in the cavity is about twice the linear velocity. Under these conditions there is a
cumulative interaction between the electron beam and the microwave generated by the beam in
the cavity. In order to prevent the wave from propagating towards the gun, the input aperture of
the cavity is made smaller than the cavity diameter. An up-taper is provided at the other end
leading to an output coupler to efficiently extract the microwave beam without mode
degradation. There are two types of output couplers used in the present day gyrotrons. When
the output power is relatively low, the output coupler is a simple water cooled, long copper
cylinder that also serves as the collector of the spent electron beam. For high power operation,
the microwave and the electron beams are separated so that each can be handled without
interference with the other. The microwave is launched as a beam oblique to the axis, while the
electron beam continues its trajectory along the magnetic field lines. The microwave beam is
then reflected by a set of phase correcting mirrors perpendicular to the axis forming an output
pattem at the window compatible with the mode requirements of the external low loss
transmission line. For a comprehensive description of the key elements of a gyrotron and an
extensive list of references, the reader is referred to the article “Characteristics and Applications
of Fast-Wave Gyrodevices” by K. Felch, B. Danly, H. Jorry, K. Kreischer, W. Lwason, B.
Levush, and R. Temkin, Proc. IEEE, May 1999.
Desim Considerations
18.1
In high power gyrotrons, the cavity diameter has to be increased to handle the high heat
deposition on the wall. Such a large diameter cavity can permit oscillations in many higher
order modes, resulting in poor beam quality as well as poor efficiency. Hence care has to be
taken to suppress the unwanted modes. This is achieved through one of the following
techniques or a combination of several of them: Shaping the cavity, Tapering the magnetic
field, Reducing the thickness of the e-beam annulus, Positioning the e-beam so that the desired
mode is preferentially excited, Designing the electron gun to produce beam with optimum
parameters, Shaping the beam tunnel between the gun and the cavity, and Constructing the
beam tunnel using materials with high electrical loss.
For example, the cavity mode of the 110 GHz, 1 MW, cw gyotron manufactured by the CPI is
TE 22,6. It is a rotating mode and the desired output at the entrance to the external waveguide is
HE1 1. The TE 22,6 has the property that if the waveguide tip has a spiral cut, a Gaussian shaped
beam will be launched at an angle to the axis. But, the beam falling along the linear section of
the cut will generate side lobes resulting in a diffraction loss of about 20%, making it unsuitable
for cw operation. A technique to reduce the side lobe, invented by Denisov in Russia and
perfected by Monica Blank in the US, is to incorporate a set of small indentations carefully
located along the path of the advancing microwave beam. As the beam bounces from one
dimple to the next, power is redistributed spatially within the beam so that the edge illumination
will be negligible. This would render nearly all of the output power in the main lobe. This
dimpled section also has to be tapered to prevent parasitic oscillations. The launched microwave
beam is then reflected by a set of 4 shaped mirrors to obtain a Gaussian output pattern at the
window. The current 110 GHz, 1 MW CPI model uses a 2.5” diameter synthetic diamond
window. Although the window is only edge cooled, the high thermal conductivity of diamond
would limit the maximum temperature increase to about 50’‘ during the 1 MW, cw operation.
The gyrotron also shows an acceptable level of interior loss of power yielding an overall
transmission efficiency of more than 95%.
Collector Design and Efficiency Enhancement
The efficiency of microwave generation from the electron beam has been less than 40% at these
high frequencies. But, it can be improved by floating the collector at a high negative potential
there by retrieving of part of the kinetic energy of the electrons through the electrostatic
repulsion between the electrons and the collector. Since the spectrum of the exit beam is broad,
optimal operation would require the use of more than one collector, with each collector set at a
different potential. Shaping the collectors and the magnetic field is also necessary to minimize
the effect of secondary electrons. The power supply connected between the gun and the cavity
section has to be well regulated (but would need to provide only the low intercepting body
current) and the one connected to the collector has to be rated for high current (but does not
have to be highly regulated). Hence, the use of depressed collectors would reduce the total
system cost, in addition to improving the reliability through reduced cooling requirements.
Future Directions
Considering the importance of reliability, DOE supported research efforts will emphasize the
performance of gyrotron components to achieve higher reliability of the ECH system.

10 1109@ove@ec 2000 847543

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

10 1109@ove@ec 2000 847543

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

10 1109@ove@ec 2000 847543

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

18.

HIGH AVERAGE POWER MICROWAVE SOURCES

Principle of Operation of a Gvrotron

Collector Design and Efficiency Enhancement

You might also like