Development and tests of fast 1-MA linear transformer driver stages

• Main Authors: A. A. Kim, M. G. Mazarakis, V. A. Sinebryukhov, B. M. Kovalchuk, V. A. Visir, S. N. Volkov, F. Bayol, A. N. Bastrikov, V. G. Durakov, S. V. Frolov, V. M. Alexeenko, D. H. McDaniel, W. E. Fowler, K. LeChien, C. Olson, W. A. Stygar, K. W. Struve, J. Porter, R. M. Gilgenbach
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Physical Society 2009-05-01
• Series: Physical Review Special Topics. Accelerators and Beams
• Online Access: http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTAB.12.050402
• ISSN: 1098-4402

In this article we present the design and test results of the most powerful, fast linear transformer driver (LTD) stage developed to date. This 1-MA LTD stage consists of 40 parallel RLC (resistor R, inductor L, and capacitor C) circuits called “bricks” that are triggered simultaneously; it is able to deliver ∼1  MA current pulse with a rise time of ∼100  ns into the ∼0.1-Ohm matched load. The electrical behavior of the stage can be predicted by using a simple RLC circuit, thus simplifying the designing of various LTD-based accelerators. Five 1-MA LTD stages assembled in series into a module have been successfully tested with both resistive and vacuum electron-beam diode loads.