Development of an experimental facility for the study of microparticle initiated radio frequency vacuum breakdown

An ongoing objective in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF) systems is improvement power coupling to plasma. During last decade, this goal has been mainly pursued through study resistance, either by optimizing antenna layout or tailoring scrape-off layer profile with gas puffing. Another approach increase voltage handling capability ICRF system, limited breakdown launchers transmission lines. This paper describes design Breakdown EXperiment (IBEX), a device investigate fundamental aspects radio frequency arcs under ICRF-relevant conditions. IBEX can achieve peak 48 kV at 54 MHz 5 kW input power.