Influence of the blanket shield modules geometry on the operation of the ITER ICRF antenna

Three-dimensional electromagnetic simulations of the ITER ICRF antenna have been recently performed with the commercial code CST Microwave Studio® (MWS) [1]. A detailed model imported from the CATIA® file has been considered: it includes the 24 straps array (CY3.1 geometry [2]) and the surrounding blanket shield modules. The transient solver in MWS has detected the presence of a very localized peak in the input impedance matrix at a frequency of approximately 51 MHz in vacuum conditions. The presence of such a resonance in the ITER operating range of frequency is of concern and should be understood as previous analysis reported in [3] concluded that TEM and non-TEM modes are not expected in this frequency band as long as the antenna is grounded to the port at 1 m back from the antenna front face. By using a simplified model of the geometry we demonstrate that the resonance is a consequence of the considered geometry of the blanket shield modules and in particular of the cavity at the back of the modules made of the module attachment and the port plug outer face. We show that the presence of such a cavity locally increases the coaxial line impedance and allows for a TEM mode in the band. This physical analysis is supported by a transmission line model where the system made of the antenna and its surrounding port is approximated by a rectangular coaxial line.