Development of reliable diamond window for EC launcher on fusion reactors

In order to avoid a possible accidental event of a diamond window, i.e. a leakage of cooling water into vacuum, a new diamond window with a copper (Cu)-coated edge was developed. The 0.5 mm thick Cu-coating completely covers the window disk edge and aluminum braze, between the diamond disk edge and the inconel cuffs cooled by water. Corrosion of the aluminum braze can also be prevented by the Cu-coating. A 170 GHz high power RF transmission experiment, which was indicative for a MW-level transmission, was carried out to investigate the cooling capability of the Cu-coated window. RF power/pulse length 55 kW/3.5 s and 120 kW/3 s, were transmitted through the window without any problem. Temperature increase of 50 and 100 degrees C were obtained, respectively. The results agree with thermal calculations with loss tangent 8.5 x 10(-4) and thermal conductivity 1.9 kW/(m K) of the diamond. Thermal and stress analysis show that no serious stress between the diamond disk and the Cu-coating is established. It concludes that a diamond window with Cu-coated edge water-cooling is capable of MW-level transmission and that the Cu-coating improves the reliability of the diamond window. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.