THE LIMITING ELEMENTS IN INDUCTION ACCELERATOR DESIGN ARE DETERMINED BY THE ACCEPTABLE VOLTAGE GRADIENTS ON KEY DESIGN COMPONENTS.

THE LIMITING ELEMENTS IN INDUCTION ACCELERATOR DESIGN ARE DETERMINED BY THE ACCEPTABLE VOLTAGE GRADIENTS ON KEY DESIGN COMPONENTS. WE HAVE ANALYZED THE PROBLEM FOR TYPICAL PARAMETERS (250 KV/STAGE, 10 KA, NS PULSE) AND FIND THAT KEY LIMITATIONS ARE THE FERRITE CORE BULK BREAKDOWN VOLTAGE, FERRITE CORE CAPACITANCE, VACUUM ELECTRODE ELECTRON EMISSION VOLTAGE, VACUUM/DIELECTRIC HIGH VOLTAGE INSULATOR SURFACE FALSHOVER VOLTAGE, AND THE ION EFFICIENCY OF METGLAS OR EQUIVALENT TAPE-WOUND CORES. IN OUR PROPOSED PHASE I PROGRAM, WE WILL COLLABORATE WITH DARPA PERSONNEL TO DEFINE REPRESENTATIVE MODULE PARAMETERS. DATA PRESENTLY UNAVAILABLE ON FERRITE BREAKDOWN STRENGTH AND PERMITTIVITY WILL BE GATHERED EXPERIMENTALLY. VARIOUS TECHNIQUES FOR CONFIGURING FERRITE CORES TO ACHIEVE HIGH GRADIENT (RADIAL STACKING, CAPACITIVE GRADING, AND OTHERS) ARE PROPOSED, AND THESE WILL BE STUDIED IN DETAIL TO DETERMINE THEIR UTILITY. WE WILL ALSO MANUFACTURE AND TEST NI-FE CORES WITH ULTRA-THIN LAMINATIONS USING A PROPRIETARY TECHNIQUE. THE DATA AND STUDIES DISCUSSED ABOVE WILL PROVIDE THE BASIS FOR A CONCEPTUAL HIGH GRADIENT MODULE DESIGN IN PHASE I. THE MOST PROMISING MODULE DESIGNS WILL BE TESTED IN PHASE II.