Guest Editorial Fifth Special Issue on Pulsed Power Science and Technology

Abstract

HE tradition of chronicling latest advances in pulsed power continues with this fifth edition Special Issue on Pulsed Power Science and Technology. The special issue has proven popular with scientists and engineers. Moreover, the publication of comprehensive peer-reviewed articles in a special issue of a journal devoted to the topic is increasingly recognized as personally and professionally worthwhile. This special issue is a compilation of expanded versions of some of the best papers presented at the 2003 International Pulsed Power Conference (PPC), held in Dallas, TX, June 15‐18, 2003. The Proceedings of the Pulsed Power Conference is the premiere forum for exchanging results and ideas in the area of pulsed power and related technologies. In the last decade, the Pulsed Power conferences have been very successful, as is evident from the number of participants and quality papers, with over 25 countries represented. The 2003 PPC is no exception, with 584 registrants from 22 countries and 477 papers. Even with the extraordinary and unprecedented problems in obtaining visas for many foreign participants, the conference still recorded 180 registrants from outside the United States. Pulsed power technology has traditionally been dominated by military applications with some civilian efforts primarily in the area of controlled nuclear fusion. More recently, however, the number of civilian applications has grown considerably. Of particular interest are the areas of biological and medical applications, compact pulsed power, and repetitive pulsed power systems. It is interesting to note that the contributed papers to this special issue are roughly evenly divided between components, fundamental phenomena, systems and applications. All but a few of the papers in this issue are based on the presentations given at the International Pulsed Power Conference. The reader of this Fifth Special Issue on Pulsed Power Science and Technology will also see this truly international participation reflected in the contributed papers. Similarly, the diverse nature of the pulsed power community is reflected in the originating institutions of universities, industry, and government laboratories. Making a clear classification between the topics covered in this issue has been a challenging task since the topics range from flashover phenomena to pulsed power driven sterilizing technology, and from directed weapon technology to explosively driven pulsed power to miniature hole drilling industrial applications.