| Issue |
EPJ Web Conf.
Volume 346, 2026
25th Topical Conference on Radio-Frequency Power in Plasmas (RFPPC2025)
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Article Number | 02024 | |
| Number of page(s) | 7 | |
| Section | Wave Heating and Current Drive in Present and Future Fusion Devices | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202634602024 | |
| Published online | 07 January 2026 | |
https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202634602024
Initial electron cyclotron heating/current drive scoping study for the SMall Aspect Ratio Tokamak (SMART)
1 Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, 08540, NJ, USA
2 Department of Atomic, Molecular and Nuclear Physics, University of Seville, Seville, Spain
* Corresponding author: nbertell@pppl.gov
Published online: 7 January 2026
In this work an initial electron cyclotron heating/current drive (EC H&CD) scoping study is presented for the SMall Aspect Ratio Tokamak (SMART), constructed and operated by the Plasma Science and Fusion Technology (PSFT) Laboratory of the University of Seville. We consider two planned phases of operation with different magnitude of magnetic field (B 0.4, and 1 T). This EC H&CD scoping study is carried out by using the ray tracing code TRAVIS, which allows to quickly perform a series of scans on the main SMART plasma scenarios. A scan in the poloidal and toroidal launching angles is performed for the B 0.4 T plasma scenario assuming three launching locations (mid-plane, off-mid-plane, and top-launcher) and the extraordinary (X-) mode polarization. The absorption occurs at the second harmonic and, overall, the highest power absorption is obtained launching the EC beam from the top of the machine. A numerical analysis of the fundamental X-mode EC H&CD start-up regime for the B 1.0 T plasma scenario with two different wave frequencies (28 and 35 GHz) is presented showing a very high current drive efficiency.
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2026
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