Circular waveguide systems for electron-cyclotron-resonant heating of the tandem mirror experiment-upgrade

Extensive use of electron cyclotron resonant heating (ECRH) in the Tandem Mirror Experiment-Upgrade (TMX-U) requires continuous development of components to improve efficiency, increase reliability, and deliver power to new locations with respect to the plasma. We have used rectangular waveguide components on the experiment and have developed, tested, and installed circular waveguide components. We replaced the rectangular with the circular components because of the greater transmission efficiency and power-handling capability of the circular ones. Design, fabrication, and testing of all components are complete for all systems. In this paper we describe the design criteria for the system.