Investigation of "conjugate T" load-resilient ICRF antenna systems - Application to the JET ITER-like and to a possible ITER ICRF system

The paper reports on the radio-frequency (RF) analysis of multiple-short-strap load-resilient ICRF antenna systems, applied to the JET ITER-Like and to a proposed ITER ICRF system. The short radiating straps minimize the antenna voltage and the "conjugate T" load resilient matching circuit aims at reliable power delivery to ELMy H mode plasmas. The two designs mainly differ by the use of in-vessel matching capacitors for the JET array, whereas the proposed ITER design uses an optimized combination of straps in parallel and ex-vessel matching by means of line stretchers. Asymmetries and mutual coupling between straps strongly influence the performance of such load-resilient circuits and complicate their operation. These effects have been analyzed in detail along two parallel lines of investigation: (i) Detailed RF simulations, in which the input impedance matrix of the ICRF arrays has been computed with a three-dimensional electromagnetic code and incorporated in realistic models of the transmission and matching circuits, (ii) Comprehensive RF measurements on a scaled-down mockup of the proposed ITER antenna. Ongoing work to optimize array performance and to develop practical matching procedures and reliable automatic control of the matching elements is discussed. The main outstanding issues are reliable arc detection and demonstration of a robust array control algorithm.