T25 ITER ECH window development 110 GHz ECH distributed window development. Final report, May 1, 1994--December 31, 1995

Electron Cyclotron Heating (ECH) is one of the major candidates for Heating and Current Drive on ITER. ECH is extremely attractive from a reactor engineering point of view, offering compact launch structures, high injected power density, and a simple interface with the shield/blanket. Economic deployment of ECH for ITER requires MW unit microwave sources (gyrotrons). The present technology limitation is the availability of suitable low loss output windows. These are needed for the torus as well as the tube. The torus window, in particular, is a demanding application as it also serves as a tritium barrier. Several distinct window concepts are under development by the various Parties. This report summarizes the efforts to make and test a {open_quotes}distributed{close_quotes} window suitable for 1 MW cw operation at 110 GHz. A companion report (Final Report on Task 245+) describes the efforts to make a distributed window suitable for 1 MW cw operation at 170 GHz, the main frequency of interest to ITER. General Atomics (GA) fabricated a 4 in. x 4 in. 110 GHz distributed window which was delivered in September 1995 to Communications and Power Industries (CPI). Hot tests at CPI confirmed the power handling capability of the window. Tests were conducted with a reduced beam size at 200 kW with 0.7 s pulses without any arcing or excessive window temperatures. The power density and pulse length were equivalent to that in a full size 1.2 MW CW beam with a peak-to-average power ratio of 2.7. This window was assembled using a gold braze material to bond the sapphire strips to the niobium frame. The braze was successful except for small leaks at two locations, and re-braze efforts were unsuccessful