Efficient Self Consistent 3D/1D Analysis of ICRF Antennas

Abstract

An innovative tool has been realized for the 3D/1D simulation of Ion Cyclotron Radio Frequency (ICRF), i.e. accounting for antennas in a realistic 3D geometry and with an accurate 1D plasma model. The approach to the problem is based on an integral‐equation formulation for the self‐consistent evaluation of the current distribution on the conductors. The environment has been subdivided in two coupled region: the plasma region and the vacuum region. The two problems are linked by means of a magnetic current (electric field) distribution on the aperture between the two regions. In the vacuum region all the calculations are executed in the spatial domain while in the plasma region an extraction in the spectral domain and an analytical evaluation of some integrals are employed that permit to significantly reduce the integration support and to obtain a high numerical efficiency leading to the practical possibility of using a large number of sub‐domain basis functions on each solid conductor of the system. The p...