Dresden 2026 – scientific programme

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FM: Fachverband Funktionsmaterialien

FM 7: Crystal Defects and Real Structure Physics in Diamond and Functional Materials I

FM 7.4: Talk

Tuesday, March 10, 2026, 10:15–10:30, BEY/0E40

EC Heating systems for present and future fusion experiments and power plants — •Peter Späh — KIT, Institute for Applied Materials, Karlsruhe, Germany

CVD diamond windows are an essential component in Electron Cyclotron (EC) plasma heating and stabilisation systems for nuclear fusion reactors. Beside the characterisation and qualification of CVD diamond disks and the design and analysis of CVD diamond window assemblies, the Institute for Applied Materials (IAM) at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) also contributes to concept findings, layout, design and integration of EC heating systems for several fusion experiments and power plant studies.

Experimental fusion devices and future fusion power plants with magnetic confinement require powerful heating systems for plasma core heating, plasma disruption mitigation, breakdown of gas, plasma ramp-up and -down, impurity control and to counteract thermal instabilities. Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ECRH) is one of these heating systems. Microwave beams in the frequency range of 80 to 240 GHz are generated by gyrotrons and subsequently transmitted via waveguides and an antenna into the plasma chamber, where they interact with the electrons.

This talk gives an overview on the design status of the EC heating antennas for the EU DEMO fusion power plant and for the Volumetric Neutron Source (VNS) which is a conceptual study of a beam-driven Tokamak, serving as test-bed for full-sized breeding blanket modules.

Keywords: CVD Diamond; Nuclear fusion; Fusion power plant; ECRH; Plasma control