Combline antenna modeling for plasma heating

The combline antenna for plasma heating, as proposed by General Atomics, has unique potential for solving many plasma drive problems. The benefit of the combline design is the utilization of the coupling between elements that avoids a more cumbersome multidrive system. This design is being investigated using computational EM modeling codes in the 100-400 MHz band using resources at General Atomics and LLNL. Preliminary experimental results, using a combline mockup, agree well with 3D modeling efforts including resonant frequency alignment and amplitudes. These efforts have been expanded into an endeavor to optimize the combline design using both time and frequency domain codes. This analysis will include plasma coupling but to date has been limited to antenna effects. The combline antenna system is modeled in 3D using a combination of computational tools in the time domain, for temporal feature isolation purposes, and in the frequency domain, for resonant structure analysis. Both time and frequency domain modeling details include the Faraday shield elements, the strap elements, and the feed structure.