Engineering development for a small-scale recirculator experiment

Abstract

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is evaluating the physics and technology of recirculating induction accelerators for heavy ion inertial fusion drivers. As part of this evaluation we are building a small-scale recirculator to demonstrate the concept and to use as a test bed for the development of recirculator technologies. System designs have been completed and components are presently being designed and developed for the small-scale recirculator. The hardware being developed includes both mechanical and electrical components of the beam line. Our present development efforts are focused on two areas: (1) the design of the modular beam line component called a “half-lattice module” which must satisfy challenging space and vacuum requirements and (2) the development of an advanced solid state modulator which will generate precisely tailored electrical pulses at repetition rates exceeding 100 kHz for acceleration. This paper will discuss results of the design and development activities that are presently being conducted to implement the small-scale recirculator experiments. An overview of the system design will be presented along with a discussion of the implications of this design on the mechanical and electrical hardware. The paper will focus primarily on discussions of the development and design of the half-lattice period hardware and the advanced solid state modulator.