Development of an experimental facility for the study of microparticle initiated radio frequency vacuum breakdown

R Casagrande; H Faugel; F Fischer; H Fünfgelder; F Riedl; G Siegl; P Bettini; J-M Noterdaeme; K Crombé

doi:10.1063/5.0034559

Development of an experimental facility for the study of microparticle initiated radio frequency vacuum breakdown

Rev Sci Instrum. 2021 Jan 1;92(1):013508. doi: 10.1063/5.0034559.

Authors

R Casagrande¹, H Faugel², F Fischer², H Fünfgelder², F Riedl², G Siegl², P Bettini³, J-M Noterdaeme¹, K Crombé¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Applied Physics, Ghent University, 9000 Gent, Belgium.
² Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik, 85748 Garching, Germany.
³ Università degli Studi di Padova, 35122 Padova, Italy.

PMID: 33514254
DOI: 10.1063/5.0034559

Abstract

An ongoing objective in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF) systems is the improvement of power coupling to the plasma. During the last decade, this goal has been mainly pursued through the study of the coupling resistance, either by optimizing the antenna layout or by tailoring the scrape-off layer profile with gas puffing. Another approach is to increase the voltage handling capability of the ICRF system, limited by breakdown in the launchers or in the transmission lines. This paper describes the design of the ICRF Breakdown EXperiment (IBEX), a device to investigate fundamental aspects of radio frequency arcs under ICRF-relevant conditions. IBEX can achieve a peak voltage of 48 kV at 54 MHz with a 5 kW input power.