Formation of fast notched'' current waveforms through a high inductance

Journal Article · Tue Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1991 · Review of Scientific Instruments; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1142513· OSTI ID:5176615

Spanjers, G; Nelson, B A; Ribe, F L ^[1]

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1. University of Washington, Seattle, Washington (USA)

A fast notch'' current has been produced on the (4 {mu}H) hardcore central conductor (C. M. Greenfield, M. E. Koepke, and F. L. Ribe, Phys. Fluids B {bold 2}, 133 (1990)) of the high beta Q machine, a 2.6 m theta pinch (S. O. Knox, H. Meuth, E. Sevillano, and F. L. Ribe, 3rd IEEE International Pulsed Power Conf., 1981, IEEE Publ. 81 CH1662/6, paper 3.1). With the notch circuitry, the current can be slowly ({tau}{sub 1/4} = 14 {mu}s) brought to a crowbarred dc value (20 kA) and then quickly ({tau}{sub 1/4} = 1.3 {mu}s) notched'' to a different value (typically either 0 kA or twice the dc value) and then quickly returned to the dc value. The use of a new inductively loaded spark gap switch eliminates extraneous ringing in the final crowbarred current waveform. As described here, by driving the hardcore circuit with two isolated capacitor banks, and a voltage stepup transformer, the notch current is created using spark gaps and ignitrons for switching, resulting in an inexpensive and technically simple circuit.

• DOE Contract Number: FG06-87ER53242
• OSTI ID: 5176615
• Journal Information: Review of Scientific Instruments; (United States), Vol. 62:10; ISSN 0034-6748
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
THETA PINCH
ELECTRIC CURRENTS
NOTCHES
WAVE FORMS
IGNITRONS
INDUCTION
SPARK GAPS
SWITCHES
CURRENTS
ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT
ELECTRON TUBES
EQUIPMENT
GAS DISCHARGE TUBES
PINCH EFFECT
RECTIFIER TUBES
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