Inductive Modulator Switch

70151S02-II The Next Generation Linear Collider (NLC) will require over 800 pulse modulators to drive its radio frequency klystrons. Increased modulator efficiency will be critical to cost effective operation because each percentage of increased efficiency is worth millions of dollars in electricity cost savings over the NLC's operating lifetime. Current efforts to develop a reliable and cost effective design are based on commercially available switching elements. However, these devices are designed primarily for electric motor drives and are not optimized for pulsed power applications. This project will develop very fast, insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) configurations specifically suited for pulsed power applications. Phase I designed, prototyped, and assessed individual IGBT package configurations, and predicted their performance when utilized for a full NLC modulator. The decreased manufacturing cost associated with each configuration was determined, and the Life Cycle Cost impact of that configuration on the overall NLC program was estimated. Phase II will refine, prototype, test, and iterate each configuration. Pulsed Power Transistors (PPTs) will be used to build two solid state, pulsed power switches. The first will replicate one of the NLC solid state modulator prototypes, and the second will be for a commercial, medical accelerator system. For both, the size, cost, and performance of the PPT-based design will be compared to both traditional pulsed power systems that use vacuum tubes and recently developed solid state systems that use commercial IGBTs. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by awardee: IGBT packages optimized for pulsed power applications should significantly improve the performance and cost effectiveness of a variety of commercial pulsed power systems utilized in radars, semiconductor manufacturing, cancer treatment, inspection systems, and sterilization of food and mail.