Fast Marx for PRS drivers

Abstract

Our previous design studies for large simulators to drive plasma radiation source (PRS) implosion to around 50 MA in 250 ns led to the design requirements for the fast Marx generators (FMG). The basic building blocks for these future FMG-driven machines are a low-inductance Marx switch and a low-inductance capacitor designed to be integrated with the new switch. These components are configured in a low-inductance FMG stage and then stacked in series to form a unit for the voltage required and a number of units in parallel for the required system inductance and stored energy. We have successfully developed and demonstrated the prototype FMG basic components whose performance is consistent with the system requirements. We designed, built, and tested a four-stage FMG unit with the prototype 100 kV, 1.35 /spl mu/F capacitors, and the 200 kV, 300 kA rail-gap-style Marx switches. We demonstrated the required low inductance for (LC)/sup 1/2/ < 300 ns on this four-stage FMG. We present the data obtained from the component tests in a high-voltage test bed, a single-stage and then a four-stage FMG configuration.