W environment in steady-state tokamak (WEST) experiments aim to achieve long plasma pulses (1000 s) and to expose ITER-like tungsten divertor to power fluxes up to 10 MW/m2. To increase the margin to reach H-Mode regimes and control W-impurities in the plasma, the WEST ECRH system is upgraded to a power capability of 3 MW/1000 s at the frequency of 105 GHz. The Tore Supra ECRH antenna has first been improved and is now installed in the equatorial plane of WEST to start ECRH operation on plasma. On the power generation side, a new gyrotron (1 MW/1000 s) designed jointly by KIT and NKUA and manufactured by THALES has been tested in the FULGOR test bench at KIT. The validation of the gyrotron electron optic and Radio Frequency (RF) design with performances of 1 MW/5 s triggered the assembly of the second and third series gyrotrons. In parallel to the gyrotron validation and the installation of the upgraded antenna in the tokamak, the ECRH transmitter has undergone profound changes to adapt the auxiliaries to the new components (gyrotron, superconducting magnet, RF load) such as the cooling system, the high voltage power supply (HVPS) system and the plant environment itself. To control, monitor and ensure the safety of staff and components, the control system, software and communication protocols with the auxiliaries of the gyrotron have been completely refurbished. The commissioning of the complete system now equipped with the first gyrotron started in September 2024 in WEST with the goal of achieving the first ECRH shots during plasma experiments in April 2025. This article reports the main results obtained with the first gyrotron, focuses on the upgrades of the ECRH plant and its commissioning and finally gives a summary of the first experiments with ECRH in WEST.

On the basis of several recent breakthroughs in fusion research, many activities have been launched around the world to develop fusion power plants on the fastest possible time scale. In this context, high-fidelity simulations of the plasma behavior on large supercomputers provide one of the main pathways to accelerating progress by guiding crucial design decisions. When it comes to determining the energy confinement time of a magnetic confinement fusion device, which is a key quantity of interest, gyrokinetic turbulence simulations are considered the approach of choice - but the question, whether they are really able to reliably predict the plasma behavior is still open. The present study addresses this important issue by means of careful comparisons between state-of-the-art gyrokinetic turbulence simulations with the GENE code and experimental observations in the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak for an unprecedented number of simultaneous plasma observables.

A Michelson Interferometer is in use at Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) to probe the Electron Cyclotron Emission (ECE) spectrum [1], [2], [3]. During the past operational campaign (OP2.1), 2nd and 3rd harmonic ECE power density spectra have been routinely recorded in the presence of X2and O2-mode Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ECRH). However, combination of the particular notch filter arrangement and high transmission line losses have thus far prevented overall calibration using a hot source cold source exposure at the input antenna. As an alternative, the response of the individual components is measured and summed. While reasonable numbers on electron temperature are obtained in X2-mode polarisation, interaction between front-end components is neglected and large error bars must be assumed. But the information on the individual components, together with synthetic modelling and data from experiment (OP2.1), has been used to design a new front-end with improved S/N. This optimisation is discussed in this paper with focus on notch filter selection, a new transmission line (Tx-line) and a novel combined quasi-optical taper / polarizer tuner.

MAST-Upgrade (MAST-U) is undergoing several enhancements to deliver increased performance and functionality. One such enhancement is the design, development, and implementation of an electron Bernstein wave (EBW) heating and current drive (HCD) system. The MAST-U EBW System aims to provide experimental data for model validation, along with a greater understanding of EBW physics and its capabilities. The MAST-U EBW System will deliver up to $\mathbf{1.8}$ MW of microwave power via two microwave beams, at the dual frequencies of 28 and 34.8 GHz for up to $\mathbf{4.5}$ s. This article provides an update on the system’s in-vessel components, with particular focus on the quasi-optical launcher design and modeled performance.

Reflecting gratings have been installed in the vacuum vessel of ASDEX Upgrade for all beamlines of the electron cyclotron resonance heating system. Potentially unabsorbed millimetre wave power after the first pass through the plasma is redirected towards the plasma centre. This increases the efficiency of heating schemes with reduced single pass absorption like O-2 or X-3. In order to monitor beam position and power, thermocouples were installed into the gratings. A numerical model was developed to evaluate the beam intensity during short pulses from the thermocouple measurement in a non-stationary environment. An experiment was carried out, where only the X-3 resonance is present in the plasma, and the millimetre wave beam shine-through was measured successfully as a function of the central plasma electron temperature. This allows to deduce the X-3 absorption experimentally. Scanning the launching angles, it seems possible to measure the 2D beam cross section after the first pass through the plasma.

Microwave absorbing layer materials (MALMs) are extremely important for many components in fusion reactors to absorb microwave radiation in a controlled manner and with predictable power density. Therefore, a detailed knowledge of absorption properties of absorber coating materials used is necessary. Plasma-sprayed mixed oxide coatings are most commonly used in those applications where moderate power density is expected. In this paper, a plane wave absorption model is presented using refractive index and absorption coefficient as internal parameters and incidence angle, polarization, and layer thickness as external parameters. The model has been calculated assuming radiation of 170 GHz, as envisaged for the ITER research facility. Three atmospheric plasma-sprayed coating materials were considered in this work: titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ), chromium oxide (Cr 2 O 3 ), and a mixed aluminum-titanium oxide Al 2 O 3 -TiO 2 (40/60). Theoretical results are compared with free wave measurements with two antennas. Different coating thicknesses have been prepared and measured in different polarization and incidence angles. Results are discussed regarding polarization, incidence angle, layer thickness, absorption coefficient, and refractive index.

The ITER first plasma operations will occur with no full blanket and divertor components installed. Machine protection is required and First Plasma Protection Components (FPPC) have been designed to shelter the vacuum vessel and other components from the plasma itself and from high power Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ECRH) foreseen for first plasma breakdown. ECRH protection components will be installed to protect in-vessel structures from direct and stray radiation as EC beams will be used for plasma breakdown. This paper is focused on the design of these components including dedicated mirrors to shape and redirect the beams to the EC resonance location in the magnetic field null region and then into a beam dump located in an equatorial port, where exceeding EC radiation will be trapped and dumped. Two mirrors and one grating mirror have been designed to provide the required shaping and directions for the beams coming from the upper launcher towards EC resonance and dump. The beam dump consists of five large plates affixed in an equatorial port. Guidelines that drove the design of the quasi-optical system, characteristics of the mirrors, resulting launched beams and concept developed for the beam dump will be here described.

The electron cyclotron resonance heating system at ASDEX Upgrade (AUG) is currently being extended to eight similar Gyrotrons in total. Each Gyrotron operates at 105 and 140 GHz and is designed for up to 1 MW millimetre wave output power. A substantial part of the AUG program will focus on experimental conditions, where the plasma density may be above the X-2 cut-off density at 140 GHz. In order to cope with the high density, the heating system will operate in the O-2 mode scheme with potentially incomplete absorption in the first pass. Reflecting gratings installed into the heat shield on AUG's inner column allow for a controlled second pass of the beam's unabsorbed fraction. Thermocouple measurements serve to control the beam position on the grating. The beam geometry is being finalized for the launchers #1-4. Beam propagation is simulated with the TORBEAM code and previous high density experiments are used as a database. The geometry is optimized using three criteria: central deposition, high absorption and robustness of the beam dump after the second pass. The experimental conditions, and the plasma electron density in particular, may vary such that the Gaussian beam parameters of the incoming beam on the grating deviate from the design values. It is proposed to model the effect of the grating with an equivalent ellipsoidal mirror. Laboratory measurements are shown, which support this model.

An existing framework for the design of reflection gratings was reworked. It takes the astigmatic complex beam parameters and the orientations of the beam axes of the incident and reflected beams as input and synthesizes a grating, which transforms the incident beam into the reflected beam. This is done by decomposing the 3D problem into a series of 2D reflections of plane waves. The 2D grating profiles are optimized in parallel on multiple computers. Finally, the 3D grating is derived using a simplified interpolation scheme.

The European 1 MW, 170 GHz industrial CW prototype gyrotron has been designed within EGYC (European GYrotron Consortium) in collaboration with the industrial partner Thales Electron Devices (TED) and under the coordination of Fusion for Energy (F4E). This is a conventional (hollow) cavity gyrotron that is based on the 1 MW, 170 GHz short-pulse (SP) modular gyrotron, which has been designed and manufactured by KIT in collaboration with TED. The SP prototype has been tested in multiple experimental campaigns since 2015 and the nominal cavity mode TE32,9is exited at 170.1 GHz, producing RF power above 1 MW with 35 % interaction efficiency. The first phase of the experiments with the CW industrial gyrotron was successfully completed at KIT in 2016, verifying most of the ITER specifications. Short pulses (<10ms) deliver RF power higher than 0.9 MW with a total efficiency of 26 % (in non-depressed collector operation). The Gaussian mode content of the RF beam is 97 %. Pulses with duration of 180 s (limited by the high-voltage power supply at KIT) produce power more than 0.8 MW with maximum efficiency 38 % (in depressed collector operation). In this work the achievements with the SP and the CW prototype gyrotrons are summarized.

Transmission of high-power millimeter waves for ECRH is often realised with oversized corrugated circular waveguides. Coupling from the gyrotron source to the waveguide is typically done via matching mirrors in free space. Small alignment errors of the system lead to the excitation of higher-order modes inside the waveguide beside the main transmission mode HE11. Those modes have comparably higher losses and can in worst case result in local fields exceeding the breakdown limit of the medium inside the waveguide. For alignment control over the whole pulse duration of the gyrotron, a set of hole-array couplers placed into a miter bend mirror probes the field inside the waveguide. The arrays are designed to detect the marker modes for beam offset and tilt (LP(e=o)11 )as well as for beam waist mismatch (LP02). In addition, a main mode coupler sensitive mostly for the HE11 content is used as a power monitor. By maximizing the signal of the power monitor and minimizing the content of marker modes, a first-order optimization of the coupling from free space to the waveguide can be achieved. Signal processing of the 140 GHz information is done at kHz range after downmixing, using a frequency shifted part of the power monitor signal. As the measurement system is placed in a miter bend mirror, it can also be easily installed at various locations along the transmission line to check for possible misalignments of the waveguide connections between miter bends. Simulation and low power experimental results will be shown.

High power mm waves for fusion plasma heating need to be elliptically polarised to ensure good absorption in the plasma. In some scenarios, electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) at higher harmonics (X3 and O2) is used, but this has significant shine-through because of low single pass absorption. Grating reflectors at the inboard strike point form a holographic mirror that reflects the beam back into the plasma. This paper investigates the optical properties and ohmic losses of both the polariser and the reflectors with the 3D fullwave code IPF-FD3D. The reflection properties of a reflector for ASDEX Upgrade and the improved ohmic losses of a waveguide polariser were confirmed.

The polarization of the directed ECRH power has to be matched to the plasma boundary with respect to the magnetic field at the density gradient region close to the last closed flux surface (LCFS). This is achieved by means of grooved mirrors, which provide the required polarization and which are part of the matching optics unit (MOU) of the gyrotrons. The RF radiation from the gyrotrons has to pass typically 16 mirrors in a complex three-dimensional arrangement in order to reach the plasma. The paper discusses the modeling of the ECRH transmission in order to find the required polarizer adjustment for each possible injection angle and plasma wave type (O- or X-mode). This includes the calculation of the polarization state on the plasma boundary, the back-propagation through the transmission line up to the MOU and finally the calculation of the corresponding angles of both polarizers.

The European Union Integrated Tokamak Modelling Task Force (ITM-TF) has developed a standardized platform and an integrated modeling suite of codes for the simulation and prediction of a complete plasma discharge in any tokamak. The framework developed by ITM-TF allows for the development of sophisticated integrated simulations (workflows) for physics application, e.g., free-boundary equilibrium with feedback control, magnetohydrodynamic stability analysis, core/edge plasma transport, and heating and current drive. A significant effort is also under way to integrate synthetic diagnostic modules in the ITM-TF environment, namely, focusing on three-dimensional reflectometry, motional Stark effect, and neutron and neutral particle analyzer diagnostics. This paper gives an overview of the conceptual design of ITM-TF and preliminary results of the aforementioned synthetic diagnostic modules.

A directional coupler array with 5 ports integrated into a mitre bend for corrugated waveguide transmission lines at 140 GHz has been manufactured. The design is reviewed, and calculations on the performance for in-situ power measurement and mode discrimination are shown. Emphasis is given on detection of errors in alignment of the transmission system. Experimental tests are performed to benchmark the calculations. The results confirm the predictions and show that such a coupler is a viable tool for power measurement and basic mode analysis in high-power transmission systems.

A method was developed to calculate the reflection of microwaves at corrugated metallic surfaces along with the expected ohmic losses and phase shifts. The implemented FDTD algorithm treats the wall as a plasma with a cutoff frequency far above the microwave frequency. This results in a self-consistent solution of the currents together with the E/M fields. After describing the algorithm, comparisons with loss and phase measurements are shown and an optimized corrugation profile is suggested.

The multi-frequency Electron Cyclotron Heating (ECRH) system at the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak employs depressed collector gyrotrons, step-tunable in the range 105–140 GHz. The system is equipped with a fast steerable launcher allowing for remote steering of the ECRH RF beam during the plasma discharge. The gyrotrons and the mirrors are fully integrated in the discharge control system. The polarization can be controlled in a feed-forward mode. 3 Sniffer probes for millimeter wave stray radiation detection have been installed.