Size limitations for microwave cavity to simulate heating of blanket material in fusion reactor

The power profile in the blanket material of a nuclear fusion reactor can be simulated by using microwaves at 200 MHz. Using these microwaves, ceramic breeder materials can be thermally tested to determine their acceptability as blanket materials without entering a nuclear fusion environment. A resonating cavity design is employed which can achieve uniform cross sectional heating in the plane transverse to the neutron flux. As the sample size increases in height and width, higher order modes, above the dominant mode, are propagated and destroy the approximation to the heating produced in a fusion reactor. The limits at which these modes develop are determined in the paper.