The propagation of a 30 kA, 3.5 Mev electron beam which was focused into gas and plasma-filled cells was discussed. Gas cells which were used for X-ray radiography were produced using pulsed-power accelerators, onto a high atomic number target to generate bremsstrahlung radiation. The effectiveness of beam focusing using neutral gas, partially ionized gas, and fully ionized (plasma-filled) cells was investigated using numerical simulation. It was observed in an optimized gas cell that an initial plasma density approaching 1016 cm-3 was sufficient to prevent significant net currents and the subsequent beam sweep.
An IVA (inductive voltage adder) research programme at AWE began with the construction of a small scale IVA test bed named LINX and progressed to building PIM (Prototype IVA Module). The work on PIM is geared towards furnishing AWE with a range of machines operating at 1 to 4 MV that may eventually supersede, with an upgrade in performance, existing machines operating in that voltage range. PIM has a water dielectric Blumlein of 10 ohms charged by a Marx generator. This has been used to drive either one or two 1.5 MV inductive cavities and fitting a third cavity may be attempted in the future. The latest two cavity configuration is shown which requires a split oil coax to connect the two cavities in parallel. It also has a laser triggering system for initiating the Blumlein and the prepulse reduction system fitted to the output of the Blumlein. A short MITL (magnetically insulated transmission line) connects the cavities, via a vacuum pumping section, to a chamber containing an e-beam diode test load.
SNL is developing intense sources for flash x-ray radiography. The goals of the experiments presented here were to assess power flow issues and to help benchmark the LSP particle-in-cell code used to design the experiment. Comparisons between LSP simulations and experimental data are presented.
High-brightness flash x-ray sources are needed for penetrating dynamic radiography for a variety of applications. Various bremsstrahlung source experiments have been conducted on the TriMeV accelerator (3MV, 60 {Omega}, 20 ns) to determine the best diode and focusing configuration in the 2-3 MV range. Three classes of candidate diodes were examined: gas cell focusing, magnetically immersed, and rod pinch. The best result for the gas cell diode was 6 rad at 1 meter from the source with a 5 mm diameter x-ray spot. Using a 0.5 mm diameter cathode immersed in a 17 T solenoidal magnetic field, the best shot produced 4.1 rad with a 2.9 mm spot. The rod pinch diode demonstrated very reproducible radiographic spots between 0.75 and 0.8 mm in diameter, producing 1.2 rad. This represents a factor of eight improvement in the TriMeV flash radiographic capability above the original gas cell diode to a figure of merit (dose/spot diameter) > 1.8 rad/mm. These results clearly show the rod pinch diode to be the choice x-ray source for flash radiography at 2-3 M V endpoint.
The Advanced Hydrotest Facility (AHF) is a facility under consideration by the Department of Energy (DOE) for conducting explosively-driven hydrodynamic experiments. The major diagnostic tool at AHF will be a radiography accelerator having radiation output capable of penetrating very dense dynamic objects on multiple viewing axes with multiple pulses on each axis, each pulse having a time resolution capable of freezing object motion ({approx}50-ns) and achieving a spatial resolution {approx}1 mm at the object. Three accelerator technologies are being considered for AHF by the DOE national laboratories at Los Alamos (LANL), Livermore (LLNL), and Sandia (SNL). Two of these are electron accelerators that will produce intense x-ray pulses from a converter target yielding a dose {approx}1,000--2,000 Rads {at} 1 meter. LLNL has proposed a 16--20 MeV, 3--6 kA linear induction accelerator (LIA) driven by FET-switched modulators driving metglas loaded cavities. SNL has proposed a 12-MeV, 40-kA Inductive Voltage Adder (IVA) accelerator based on HERMES III pulsed power technology. The third option is a 25--50-GeV proton accelerator capable of {approx}10{sup 13} protons/pulse proposed by LANL. This paper will review the current status of the three accelerator concepts for AHF.