Calorimetric measurements of the output power of the 2.48 GHz commercial magnetron

Abstract

A 2.45-GHz magnetron from a domestic microwave oven, with a power output rating of 1.5 kW, is utilized as the microwave source in the design of a multi-purpose Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) plasma device in the Plasma Physics Laboratory of NIP. Measurements of the power output to a 2-liter water load and a dummy load were obtained using calorimetry. The experiment shows that it is possible to achieve a relatively stable maximum average power of 190 Watts delivered to the 2-liter water load continuously for at least 10 minutes. It is also shown that the magnetron can deliver a maximum power of about 2.2 kW.