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U.S. Department of Energy
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ECH (electron cyclotron heating) in the Microwave Tokamak Experiment

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6443040
The Microwave Tokamak Experiment (MTX) at LLNL will investigate electron heating in the MTX tokamak (formerly Alcator-C) at high density (up to 6 x 10/sup 20/ m/sup -3/) and high power by using a free electron laser (FEL). Parameters of the FEL are a peak power up to 8 GW and 50 ns duration, with average power 1 to 2 MW, at a frequency of 250 GHz. The planned input driver for the FEL is a gyrotron oscillator. The FEL output will be transported quasi-optically, inside a 50 cm evacuated pipe, to the input port of the tokamak by means of a four-mirror system. Launch polarization is the ordinary mode. This experiment will test the FEL technology at short wavelength and high peak and average power levels. Important physics issues to be explored are the effects of intense pulse heating (electric field up to 500 kV/cm) on nonlinear wave absorption and bulk heating, plasma confinement, plasma impurities, and parametric instabilities. Because the FEL technology is scalable to higher frequency and power, success of these experiments has importance for next-generation tokamaks.
Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (USA); Hunter Coll., New York (USA); TRW, Inc., Redondo Beach, CA (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-48
OSTI ID:
6443040
Report Number(s):
UCRL-96562; CONF-870570-3; ON: DE87009580
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English