Results of the Recirculator Project at LLNL

The Heavy Ion Fusion Group at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has for several years been developing the world's first circular induction accelerator designed for space charge dominated ion beams. Experiments on one quarter of the ring have been completed. The accelerator extended ten half-lattice periods (HLP) with induction cores for acceleration placed on every other HLP. A network of Capacitive Beam Probes (C-probes) was also enabled for beam position monitoring throughout the bend section. These C-probes have been instrumental in steering experiment, implementation of the acceleration stages and the dipole pulser, and the first attempts at coordinated bending and acceleration. Data from these experiments and emittance measurements will be presented

An all solid state pulse power source for high PRF induction accelerators

Researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) are developing a flexible, all solid-state pulsed power source that will enable an induction accelerator to produce mulitkiloampere electron beams at a maximum pulse repetition frequency (prf) of 2 MHz. The prototype source consists of three, 15-kV, 4.8-kA solid-state modulators stacked in an induction adder configuration. Each modulator contains over 1300 field-effect transistors (FETs) that quickly connect and disconnect four banks of energy storage capacitors to a magnetic induction core. The FETs are commanded on and off by an optical signal that determines the duration of the accelerating pulse. Further electronic circuitry is provided that resets the magnetic cores in each modulator immediately after the accelerating pulse. The system produces bursts of five or more pulses with an adjustable pulse width that ranges from 200 ns to 2 {micro}s The pulse duty factor within a burst can be as high as 25% while still allowing time for the induction core to reset. The solid-state modulator described above is called ARM-II and is named for the Advanced Radiographic Machine (ARM)-a powerful radiographic accelerator that will be the principal diagnostic device for the future Advanced Hydrotest Facility (AHF)

Development of solid-state induction modulators for high PRF accelerators

Researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and EG&G Energy Measurements are developing a new solid-state power system for two proposed accelerators. One of the accelerators is a circular arrangement of induction cells called a recirculator. It is designed to accelerate heavy ions for an inertial fusion study that proposes to substitute heavy-ion beams for laser beams as the driver for fusion targets. The other accelerator is a linear induction accelerator for electron beams called the Advanced Radiographic Machine (ARM). Both accelerators require their induction cells to be pulsed at a very high repetition frequency (prf) for a short burst containing 5 to 15 pulses. The recirculator has a pulse schedule that varies in pulse width from 1 {mu}s to 400 ns and in prf from 50 to 150 kHz. The ARM accelerator has a pulse schedule that varies in pulse width from 1 {mu}s to 200 ns and in prf from 150 kHz to 1 MHz. The need for complex pulse agility in these accelerators led the authors to examine solid-state switching components that have an on/off capability. The intrinsic speed of solid-state switching satisfies the high prf requirements, while the on/off switching action of some semiconductor devices enables the authors to select an arbitrary pulse width. To accommodate these requirements, they selected field effect transistors (FETs) as the preferred switching elements. The same FET switching technology applies to both accelerators due to their similar pulse requirements. However, these two accelerators differ greatly in peak power and prf range. For example, the power system for the ARM accelerator must supply over 3 kA of beam-current loading to a 150-kV induction cell. For the authors research, two full-scale prototypes were built - a 5-kV induction recirculator cell and a single 15-kV induction modulator for the ARM accelerator. The authors discuss the general network features that are common to both machines, followed by performance and modeling data

Research on high density tomography

The project goal is to define the beam transport system and pulsed power architecture for an advanced radiography machine that would permit obtaining a temporal sequence of multipleline-of-sight views of a given dynamic event. A long (200ns-1000ns) beam pulse would be split temporally by fast kicker ``coils`` and made to travel down separate beamlines to illuminate a target from two to four different angles. The beam pulse could be repeated at intervals down to 1 microsecond. The beam transport system and pulsed power architecture for this machine have been scoped out

Optical control, diagnostic and power supply system for a solid state induction modulator

A new high speed optical control, diagnostic and power supply system has been developed for a solid state induction modulator. The modulator consists of a large array of field effect transistors (FETs) that switch a high-voltage pulse across a tape-wound magnetic core. The FETs within the modulator are mounted on numerous circuit boards that are stacked in series for high-voltage operation. The new optical system overcomes the issue of voltage isolation by supplying each circuit board with optically coupled control power and high bandwidth signal information. An optical fiber is used to transmit laser light to a custom photovoltaic cell that provides dc power to the on-board control circuits. Optical fiber technology is again used to convey a pulse that contains detailed analog features to the FET gate controls. Diagnostic data and status information are also obtained from each board by similar optical methods. 8 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab

Switched power workshop: Power supply working group

The power supply working group was assigned the problem of pulse charging the 3-MeV gun. The gun is a radial line structure that has two charging configurations: a single ring charged to 500 kV or nine rings charged from 100 to 200 kV. In either configuration, the pulsed source must rapidly charge the structure's ring(s) before breakdown can begin. The issues encountered in charging the structure can be divided into two categories. First, the charging system must be well matched to the gun structure. Proper impedance matching will avoid reflections and limit the fault current if the ring should spark. Second, several systems can achieve the wide range of charge voltages necessary. Some are better suited to high voltages, while others are better at low voltages. The following paragraphs will address the impedance matching issues and review three choices for pulse generators. A system for each type of source is described along with a very rough cost estimate. 1 ref., 4 figs., 2 tabs