THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ALL SOLID STATE 5 KHZ PULSE GENERATOR FOR DRIVING LARGE BORE COPPER-VAPOR LASER AMPLIFIER

A NEW, ALL SOLID STATE, PULSE GENERATOR IS UNDER DEVELOPMENTTO MEET THE REQUIREMENT IN THE ATOMIC VAPOR LASER ISOTOPE SEPARATION (AVLIS) PROCESS FOR AN EFFICIENT, RELIABLE, PULSED POWER SOURCE TO PUMP LARGE BORE COPPER-VAPOR LASER AMPLIFIERS. THIS SILICON-CONTROLLED RECTIFIER (SCR) COMMUTATED, NONLINEAR MAGNETIC PULSE COMPRESSOR WILL BE FULLY COMPATIBLE WITH THE PRESENT HIGH POWER COPPER-VAPOR LASER AMPLIFIERS AND WILL SERVE AS A BASIS FOR FUTURE DRIVERS DESIGNED TO POWER LASERS WITH AVERAGE OUTPUT POWERS OF UP TO 1 KW. BY EMPLOYING SCRS RATHER THAN THYRATRON COMMUTATORS, THIS DRIVER SHOULD PROVIDE A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN RELIABILITY OVER THE CURRENT GENERATION OF PULSED POWER DRIVERS EMPLOYED ON AVLIS. SCR-COMMUTATED, NONLINEAR MAGNETIC PULSE COMPRESSORS HAVE ALREADY BEEN DEVELOPED AT LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORY FOR USE ON THE SMALLER OSCILLATOR LASERS, BUT THIS TECHNOLOGY HAS NOT BEEN EXTENDED TO THE HIGHER AVERAGE POWER REQUIRED BY THE LARGER LASER AMPLIFIERS. THE DRIVER WILL BE DESIGNED TO PROVIDE A 4 J, 30 NSEC-DURATION PULSE AT A VOLTAGE OF 60 KV AND A REPETITION RATE OF 5 KHZ. THE ESTIMATED EFFICIENCY WILL BE 75%, REQUIRING AN INPUT DRIVE OF 500 VDC AT 53 A. ALL COMPONENTS WILL BE CHOSEN TO BE COMPATIBLEWITH RELIABLE OPERATION FOR AN ESTIMATED MINIMUM OF 10(11) SHOTS.