INDUCTION LINAC DRIVEN FREE ELECTRON LASER WITH FERRITE MATERIALS

PROPERTIES OF FERRITE MATERIALS PLAY A KEY ROLE IN THE DESIGN OF BOTH ACCELERATOR CELLS AND DRIVERS FOR INDUCTION LINAC DRIVEN FREE ELECTRON LASERS (ILFELS). TIME-DEPENDENT HYSTERESIS LOSSES, COMBINED WITH THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY, CURIE POINT, AND GEOMETRY OF THE FERRITE CORE PLACE LIMITATIONS ON BOTH ACCELERATOR PULSE LENGTH AND DUTY FACTOR. THIS IN TURN IMPACTS THE AVERAGE OUTPUT POWER, EFFICIENCY AND COST OF THE ACCELERATOR. NONLINEAR MAGNETIC DRIVERS ARE EVOLVING TO THE POINT WHERE THE FERRITE IN THE ACCELERATOR CELLS IS NOW THE PRIMARY CONSTRAINT TO OPERATING AT INCREASED REPETITION RATES. LOSSES IN THE FERRITE ARE ALSO REDUCING THE EFFICIENCY AND THE MINIMUM ACHIEVABLE ENERGY SPREAD OF THE ELECTRON BEAM. AN OPTIMIZED FERRITE COMPOSITION IS BEING DETERMINED IN THISSTUDY THROUGH ANALYSIS AND EXPERIMENTATION. AN OPTIMUM GEOMETRY IS ALSO BEING ESTABLISHED, WITH THE FERRITE SELECTED, TO FACILITATE WASTE HEAT REMOVAL. IMPROVEMENTS ININDUCTION LINEAR ACCELERATOR CELL DESIGN COULD SUBSTANTIALLY INCREASE THE PERFORMANCE OF ILFELS AND AT THE SAME TIME LEAD TO DECREASED COSTS. INDUCTION LINACS HAVE APPLICATION IN DRIVING RELATIVISTIC KLYSTRONS AS ADVANCED RF POWER SOURCES FOR A WIDE SPECTRUM OF TACTICAL MILITARY APPLICATIONS INCLUDING JAMMING, ELECTRONIC KILL AND SPACE BASED RADAR, AND IN DRIVING SPACE BASED FREE ELECTRON LASERS FOR STRATEGIC APPLICATIONS. COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS INCLUDE ELECTRON CYCLOTRON HEATING OF TOKOMAK PLASMAS.