Power modulation capabilities of the 140 GHz/1 MW gyrotron for the stellarator Wendelstein 7-X

In current tokamaks and, in particular, in future larger devices such as ITER, the control of neo-classical tearing modes (NTM) is essential for achieving high performance in terms of the beta limit. A commonly used scheme for NTM stabilization consists in driving a helical current at the resonance surface of interest with electron-cyclotron-current-drive. Depending on the ratio between the magnetic island size and the RF beam width, complete stabilization of the NTM will only be achieved with deep RF power modulation in phase with the mode. In the frame of the European development program of high power sources for ECRH applications between Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, IPP Garching/Greifswald, EPFL Lausanne, IPF Stuttgart, CEA Cadarache and Thales Electron Devices, the modulation capabilities of the 140 GHz/1 MW gyrotron have been experimentally investigated. RF-power modulation depths higher than 80% at a frequency of 50 kHz with cathode modulation and 1.5 kHz with depression voltage modulation have been obtained. The limitations in frequency were given by the corresponding power supplies and not by the gyrotron itself. Detailed analysis of the collector loading with respect to the modulation scheme will be presented and the intrinsic gyrotron limitations for long-pulse operation with deep modulation will be discussed. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.