Design and fabrication of circular and rectangular components for electron-cyclotron-resonant heating of tandem mirror experiment-upgrade

The electron-cyclotron-resonant heating (ECRH) systems of rectangular waveguides on Tandem Mirror Experiment-Upgrade (TMX-U) operated with a overall efficiency of 50%, each system using a 28-GHz, 200-kW pulsed gyrotron. We designed and built four circular-waveguide systems with greater efficiency and greater power-handling capabilities to replace the rectangular waveguides. Two of these circular systems, at the 5-kG second-harmonic heating locations, have a total transmission efficiency of >90%. The two systems at the 10-kG fundamental heating locations have a total transmission efficiency of 80%. The difference in efficiency is due to the additional components required to launch the microwaves in the desired orientation and polarization with respect to magnetic-field lines at the 10-kG points. These systems handle the total power available from each gyrotron but do not have the arcing limitation problem of the rectangular waveguide. Each system requires several complex components. The overall physical layout and the design considerations for the rectangular and circular waveguide components are described here.