MW-scale ICRF plasma heating using IGBT switches in a multi-pulse scheme

Solid-state silicon switches are cheap and reliable option for 1-10 MHz RF power sources, required for plasma ion cyclotron RF heating (ICRF). The large `on' resistance of MOSFET and similar devices limits their power delivery to a few tens of kW per switch. Low resistivity devices, such as IGBT, suffer from large `off' switching time, which limits their useful frequency range and increases the power dissipated in the switch. Here we demonstrate more than 0.8 MW circulated RF power at 2 MHz using only three high voltage IGBT switches. The circuit uses the fast `on' switching capability of the IGBTs to generate high-Q pulse train. This operation mode also simplifies the measurement of RF coupling between the antenna and the plasma.