A MODULATOR FOR HIGH ENERGY PULSED ACCELERATORS

IMPROVED MODULATORS AND MODULATOR COMPONENTS ARE NEEDED FOR ACCELERATORS SUCH AS THE STANDARD LINEAR ACCELERATOR (SLAC). A FEASIBILITY STUDY OF A NEW DESIGN, BASED ON AN IMPROVED THYRATRON, IS UNDER WAY IN THIS PROJECT. OPERATIONWITH CONSIDERABLY IMPROVED RATE OF RISE OF CURRENT, LOWER POWER DISSIPATION, HIGHER PEAK CURRENT, AND HIGHER REPETITION RATE IS ENVISAGED. ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED INCLUDE PERFORMANCE AT HIGH VOLTAGE (100-500 KV), HIGH CURRENT (5-25 KA), AND HIGH REPETITION RATES (>200 HZ). SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THIS PROJECT WILL RESULT IN A KLYSTRON DRIVER THAT IS CAPABLE OF STABLE, LONG TERM, HIGHER REPETITION RATE OPERATION AT HIGHER POWER LEVELS.