Prototype of a quasi-optical launcher system of a 4 mm round-trip interferometer for the QUEST spherical tokamak experiments

A launcher system for a round-trip interferometer, with a corrugated horn antenna and two quasi-optical mirrors, has been developed for the QUEST spherical tokamak experiment. The corrugated horn antenna has been designed using a three-dimensional (3D) electromagnetic simulator. At low power bench test, intensity and phase profiles at 0.1 m from antenna aperture show coaxial patterns as predicted by the 3D simulator, in agreement with the calculation results using an in-house developed Kirchhoff integral code. The designed waist sizes of the focused beam at a target position are 22 mm in the horizontal x direction and 43 mm in the vertical y direction. The beam reaches the target plate at QUEST's center-post and is reflected back along the line-of-sight round-trip. A well-focused beam of 32 and 36 mm in size (x, y) has been obtained at the target position. The HE₁₁ mode excitation, beam transmission, and focusing properties are discussed for the prototype launcher system. (author)