title: A mode converter to generate a Gaussian-like mode for injection into the VENUS electron cyclotron resonance ion source.
abstract: A number of superconducting electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion sources use gyrotrons at either 24 or 28 GHz for ECR heating. In these systems, the microwave power is launched into the plasma using the TE01 circular waveguide mode. This is fundamentally different and may be less efficient than the typical rectangular, linearly polarized TE10 mode used for launching waves at lower frequencies. To improve the 28 GHz microwave coupling in VENUS, a TE01-HE11 mode conversion system has been built to test launching HE11 microwave power into the plasma chamber. The HE11 mode is a quasi-Gaussian, linearly polarized mode, which should couple strongly to the plasma electrons. The mode conversion is done in two steps. First, a 0.66 m long "snake" converts the TE01 mode to the TE11 mode. Second, a corrugated circular waveguide excites the HE11 mode, which is launched directly into the plasma chamber. The design concept draws on the development of similar devices used in tokamaks and stellerators. The first tests of the new coupling system are described below.
authors.affiliation: Nuclear Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lyneis
authors.affiliation: Nuclear Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Benitez
authors.affiliation: Nuclear Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hodgkinson
authors.affiliation: Institut für Grenzflächenverfahrenstechnik und Plasmatechnologie (IGVP), Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Plaum
authors.affiliation: Nuclear Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Strohmeier
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie, Université Joseph Fourier Grenoble 1, CNRS/IN2P3, Institut Polytechnique de Grenoble, 53 rue des martyrs 38026 Grenoble cedex, France.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Thuillier
authors.affiliation: Nuclear Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Todd