Design study of a G-band FEL amplifier for application to cyclotron resonant heating in magnetic fusion reactors

A G-band (140–150 GHz) free-electron laser is described using a coaxial hybrid iron (CHI) wiggler. The CHI wiggler is produced by insertion into a solenoid of a central rod and an outer ring composed of alternating ferrite and nonferrite spacers. The position of the spacers is such that the ferrite (nonferrite) spacers on the central rod are opposite the nonferrite (ferrite) spacers on the outer ring. The field is cylindrically symmetric and exhibits minima in the center of the gap providing for enhanced beam focusing. We describe a tapered wiggler amplifier for plasma heating applications. Preliminary design studies using a nonlinear simulation indicates that output powers of 3.5 MW are possible using a 690 kV/40 A electron beam for a total efficiency of 13%. It is important to note that no beam loss was observed even for realistic values of beam energy spread.