A 100KV, HIGH CURRENT SWITCH FOR POWER MODULATORS FOR ACCELERATORS AND OTHER APPLICATIONS

THIS PROPOSAL ADDRESSES A SWITCH PROBLEM THAT IS AN IMPORTANT LIMITATION IN THE SUCCESSFUL DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH LUMINOSITY ACCELERATOR SUCH AS INJECTORS REQUIRED FOR STORAGE RING SYSTEMS. IAPI PROPOSES THE DEVELOPMENT OF SMALLER, SIMPLER SWITCHES THAT WILL OPERATE RELIABLY WITH CONSIDERABLY IMPROVED CHARACTERISTICS, INCLUDING VERY HIGH VOLTAGES, FASTER CURRENT RISE TIMES, AND HIGH PEAK CURRENT. THIS INNOVATION WILL SIMPLIFY MODULATOR DESIGN, ALLOW MORE EFFICIENT TRANSFER OF ENERGY TO KLYSTRON (OR SIMILAR) LOADS, AND RESULT IN HIGHER REPETITION RATES AND IMPROVED PULSE CHARACTERISTICS AT THE LOAD--THUS IMPROVING THE PERFORMANCE OF A KLYSTRON, FOR EXAMPLE. THE PHASE I EFFORT WILL ESTABLISH THE FEASIBILITY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF A 100 KV THYRATRON-TYPE SWITCH THAT WILL BE SMALLER AND HAVE OTHER IMPROVED CHARACTERISTICS COMPARED TO PRESENT-DAY DEVICES, AND WILL ALSO BE CAPABLE OF HIGH CURRENT OPERATION (5 - 100 KA). SUCCESS WILL RESULT IN AN IMPORTANT ADVANCE IN MODULATOR TECHNOLOGY AND WILL IMPROVE ACCELERATOR PERFORMANCE.