Experimental study of self magnetic pinch diode as flash radiography source at 4 megavolt

Journal Article · Tue Oct 15 04:00:00 EDT 2013 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4826588· OSTI ID:22218562

Etchessahar, Bertrand; Bicrel, Béatrice; Cassany, Bruno; Desanlis, Thierry; Voisin, Luc ^[1]; Maisonny, Rémi; Toury, Martial; Hourdin, Laurent; Cartier, Frédéric; Cartier, Stéphanie; D'Almeida, Thierry; Delbos, Christophe; Garrigues, Alain; Plouhinec, Damien; Ritter, Sandra; Sol, David; Zucchini, Frédéric; Caron, Michel ^[2]

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1. CEA, DAM, CESTA—F-33114 Le Barp (France)
2. CEA, DAM, GRAMAT—F-46500 Gramat (France)

The Self Magnetic Pinch (SMP) diode is a potential high-brightness X-ray source for high voltage generators (2–10 MV) that has shown good reliability for flash radiography applications [D. D. Hinchelwood et al., “High power self-pinch diode experiments for radiographic applications” IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 35(3), 565–572 (2007)]. We have studied this diode at about 4 MV, driven by the ASTERIX generator operated at the CEA/GRAMAT [G. Raboisson et al., “ASTERIX, a high intensity X-ray generator,” in Proceedings of the 7th IEEE Pulsed Power Conference (1989), pp. 567–570]. This generator, made up of a capacitor bank and a Blumlein line, was initially designed to test the behavior of electronic devices under irradiation. In our experiments, the vacuum diode is modified in order to set up flash radiographic diodes. A previous set of radiographic experiments was carried out on ASTERIX with a Negative Polarity Rod Pinch (NPRP) diode [B. Etchessahar et al., “Study and optimization of negative polarity rod pinch diode as flash radiography source at 4.5 MV,” Phys. Plasmas 19(9), 093104 (2012)]. The SMP diode which is examined in the present study provides an alternative operating point on the same generator and a different radiographic performance: 142 ± 11 rad at 1 m dose (Al) for a 3.46 ± 0.42 mm spot size (1.4× FWHM of the LSF). This performance is obtained in a reproducible and robust nominal configuration. However, several parametric variations were also tested, such as cathode diameter and anode/cathode gap. They showed that an even better performance is accessible after optimization, in particular, a smaller spot size (<3 mm). Numbers of electrical, optical, and X-ray diagnostics have been implemented in order to gain more insight in the diode physics and to optimize it further. For the first time in France, visible and laser imaging of the SMP diode has been realized, from a radial point of view, thus, providing key information on the electrode plasmas evolution, responsible for the gap closure.

• OSTI ID: 22218562
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 20; ISSN PHPAEN; ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ANODES
CATHODES
ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
GAIN
IRRADIATION
LASERS
OPTIMIZATION
PINCH EFFECT
PLASMA DIAGNOSTICS
POTENTIALS
THERMIONIC DIODES
X RADIATION
X-RAY SOURCES