40 GW Linear Transformer Driver stage for pulse generators of Mega-ampere range

Abstract

Linear transformer driver (LTD) technology is actively developed at the Institute of High Current Electronics in Tomsk, Russia. This technology is being examined for use in high current high voltage pulsed accelerators. Recent development of high voltage low inductance capacitors and low inductance switches enabled to achieve ~100 ns rise time of the LTD output pulse. This technique allows one to eliminate intermediate pulse forming sections, used in the present accelerator technology, which would keep the footprint of an LTD accelerator small. LTD based drivers are currently considered for many applications, including future very high current Z-pinch drivers for inertial confinement fusion, medium current drivers with adjustable pulse length for isentropic compression experiments, and finally relatively low current accelerators for radiography and X-pinches. In this article, we present the design and test results for a new LTD stage, that operates at 100 kV charging voltage. Current amplitude up to 850 kA with ~140 ns rise time was obtained on a 0.05 Ω load. Stack of the LTD stages can be easily assembled in series or in parallel, thus providing voltage or current multiplication, respectively. Design of multi-mega-volt and multi-mega-ampere generators becomes straightforward with the LTD technology.

Electron-beam accelerator for pumping of a Xe2 lamp

“…Linear transformer driver (LTD) technology is actively developed since 1997 at the Institute of High Current Electronics in Tomsk, Russia (Kim et al, 1999;Bastrikov et al, 2003;Kovalchuk et al, 2009a). The LTD driver is an induction generator similar to the linear induction accelerator (LIA), the inductive voltage adder (IVA), and the linear pulsed transformer (LPT).…”

Power Increase of the Electron Source Based on the Plasma-Filled Diode

“…The application of linear transformer driver (LTD) [11], [12] makes it possible to eliminate the intermediate line with a liquid dielectric and to feed the plasma-filled diode directly. The problem of matching the diode resistance with a small wave impedance of the LTD (as a rule <10 ) can be solved by combining the functions of the diode and a current interrupter; the regime with an increased output voltage and power can also be realized.…”

Pulse generators based on air-insulated linear-transformer-driver stages

“…capacitor blocks in each module [8]; (2) stage LTD-4 with two modules in parallel and two capacitor blocks in each module [9]. There are a few main improvements in the new stages in comparison with the earlier developed ones: (1) Dry air at atmospheric pressure is used both as insulation in the generator and as a working gas in the spark gap switches.…”