For specific cases the exact solution can be expressed in 1D as the sum of two circularly polarized waves connected by a reflection coefficient that can be analytically computed. A Visual Basic macro was developed to exploit this feature and was tested for the specific case of a monochromatic plane wave propagating longitudinally with respect to the magnetic field direction. Until recently it was not possible to simulate gyrotropic medias like magnetized plasmas, but recent improvements have allowed programming any material described by a general dielectric or/and diamagnetic tensor. The code was nevertheless used intensively, notably for computing the coupling properties of the ITER ICRF antenna. This program allows for very detailed geometries of the radiating structures, but was only considering simple materials like equivalent isotropic dielectrics to simulate the reflection and the refraction of RF waves at the vacuum/plasma interface. Laboratory for Plasma Physics, ERM/KMS, EUROfusion Consortium Member, TEC Partner, Brussels, Belgium,ĭetailed designs of ICRF antennas were made possible by the development of sophisticated commercial 3D codes like CST Microwave Studio ® (MWS).

Fabrice Louche *, Alena Křivská, André Messiaen and Tom Wauters

Cst microwave