DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Impedance-matched Marx generators

Abstract

We have conceived a new class of prime-power sources for pulsed-power accelerators: impedance-matched Marx generators (IMGs). The fundamental building block of an IMG is a brick, which consists of two capacitors connected electrically in series with a single switch. An IMG comprises a single stage or several stages distributed axially and connected in series. Each stage is powered by a single brick or several bricks distributed azimuthally within the stage and connected in parallel. The stages of a multistage IMG drive an impedance-matched coaxial transmission line with a conical center conductor. When the stages are triggered sequentially to launch a coherent traveling wave along the coaxial line, the IMG achieves electromagnetic-power amplification by triggered emission of radiation. Hence a multistage IMG is a pulsed-power analogue of a laser. To illustrate the IMG approach to prime power, we have developed conceptual designs of two ten-stage IMGs with L C time constants on the order of 100 ns. One design includes 20 bricks per stage, and delivers a peak electrical power of 1.05 TW to a matched-impedance 1.22-Ω load. The design generates 113 kV per stage and has a maximum energy efficiency of 89%. The other design includes a single brick permore » stage, delivers 68 GW to a matched-impedance 19-Ω load, generates 113 kV per stage, and has a maximum energy efficiency of 90%. In conclusion, for a given electrical-power-output time history, an IMG is less expensive and slightly more efficient than a linear transformer driver, since an IMG does not use ferromagnetic cores.« less

Authors:
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
OSTI Identifier:
1350788
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1467458
Report Number(s):
SAND-2018-6458J
Journal ID: ISSN 2469-9888; PRABCJ; 040402
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC04-94AL85000
Resource Type:
Published Article
Journal Name:
Physical Review Accelerators and Beams
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Physical Review Accelerators and Beams Journal Volume: 20 Journal Issue: 4; Journal ID: ISSN 2469-9888
Publisher:
American Physical Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS

Citation Formats

Stygar, W. A., LeChien, K. R., Mazarakis, M. G., Savage, M. E., Stoltzfus, B. S., Austin, K. N., Breden, E. W., Cuneo, M. E., Hutsel, B. T., Lewis, S. A., McKee, G. R., Moore, J. K., Mulville, T. D., Muron, D. J., Reisman, D. B., Sceiford, M. E., and Wisher, M. L. Impedance-matched Marx generators. United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevAccelBeams.20.040402.
Stygar, W. A., LeChien, K. R., Mazarakis, M. G., Savage, M. E., Stoltzfus, B. S., Austin, K. N., Breden, E. W., Cuneo, M. E., Hutsel, B. T., Lewis, S. A., McKee, G. R., Moore, J. K., Mulville, T. D., Muron, D. J., Reisman, D. B., Sceiford, M. E., & Wisher, M. L. Impedance-matched Marx generators. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevAccelBeams.20.040402
Stygar, W. A., LeChien, K. R., Mazarakis, M. G., Savage, M. E., Stoltzfus, B. S., Austin, K. N., Breden, E. W., Cuneo, M. E., Hutsel, B. T., Lewis, S. A., McKee, G. R., Moore, J. K., Mulville, T. D., Muron, D. J., Reisman, D. B., Sceiford, M. E., and Wisher, M. L. Fri . "Impedance-matched Marx generators". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevAccelBeams.20.040402.
@article{osti_1350788,
title = {Impedance-matched Marx generators},
author = {Stygar, W. A. and LeChien, K. R. and Mazarakis, M. G. and Savage, M. E. and Stoltzfus, B. S. and Austin, K. N. and Breden, E. W. and Cuneo, M. E. and Hutsel, B. T. and Lewis, S. A. and McKee, G. R. and Moore, J. K. and Mulville, T. D. and Muron, D. J. and Reisman, D. B. and Sceiford, M. E. and Wisher, M. L.},
abstractNote = {We have conceived a new class of prime-power sources for pulsed-power accelerators: impedance-matched Marx generators (IMGs). The fundamental building block of an IMG is a brick, which consists of two capacitors connected electrically in series with a single switch. An IMG comprises a single stage or several stages distributed axially and connected in series. Each stage is powered by a single brick or several bricks distributed azimuthally within the stage and connected in parallel. The stages of a multistage IMG drive an impedance-matched coaxial transmission line with a conical center conductor. When the stages are triggered sequentially to launch a coherent traveling wave along the coaxial line, the IMG achieves electromagnetic-power amplification by triggered emission of radiation. Hence a multistage IMG is a pulsed-power analogue of a laser. To illustrate the IMG approach to prime power, we have developed conceptual designs of two ten-stage IMGs with L C time constants on the order of 100 ns. One design includes 20 bricks per stage, and delivers a peak electrical power of 1.05 TW to a matched-impedance 1.22-Ω load. The design generates 113 kV per stage and has a maximum energy efficiency of 89%. The other design includes a single brick per stage, delivers 68 GW to a matched-impedance 19-Ω load, generates 113 kV per stage, and has a maximum energy efficiency of 90%. In conclusion, for a given electrical-power-output time history, an IMG is less expensive and slightly more efficient than a linear transformer driver, since an IMG does not use ferromagnetic cores.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevAccelBeams.20.040402},
journal = {Physical Review Accelerators and Beams},
number = 4,
volume = 20,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Apr 07 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Fri Apr 07 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 13 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Save / Share:

Works referenced in this record:

Fast primary storage device utilizing a linear pulse transformer
journal, December 1997

  • Koval’chuk, B. M.; Vizir’, V. A.; Kim, A. A.
  • Russian Physics Journal, Vol. 40, Issue 12
  • DOI: 10.1007/BF02524302

Primary energy storages based on linear transformer stages
journal, April 2003


Design, Simulation, and Fault Analysis of a 6.5-MV LTD for Flash X-Ray Radiography
journal, October 2006

  • Leckbee, J. J.; Maenchen, J. E.; Johnson, D. L.
  • IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, Vol. 34, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1109/TPS.2006.879553

Numerical Analysis of a Pulsed Compact LTD System for Electron Beam-Driven Radiography
journal, October 2006

  • Rose, D. V.; Welch, D. R.; Oliver, B. V.
  • IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, Vol. 34, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1109/TPS.2006.881297

Architecture of petawatt-class z -pinch accelerators
journal, March 2007

  • Stygar, W. A.; Cuneo, M. E.; Headley, D. I.
  • Physical Review Special Topics - Accelerators and Beams, Vol. 10, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevSTAB.10.030401

Shaping the output pulse of a linear-transformer-driver module
journal, March 2009

  • Stygar, W. A.; Fowler, W. E.; LeChien, K. R.
  • Physical Review Special Topics - Accelerators and Beams, Vol. 12, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevSTAB.12.030402

High current, 0.5-MA, fast, 100-ns, linear transformer driver experiments
journal, May 2009

  • Mazarakis, Michael G.; Fowler, William E.; Kim, Alexander A.
  • Physical Review Special Topics - Accelerators and Beams, Vol. 12, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevSTAB.12.050401

Development and tests of fast 1-MA linear transformer driver stages
journal, May 2009

  • Kim, A. A.; Mazarakis, M. G.; Sinebryukhov, V. A.
  • Physical Review Special Topics - Accelerators and Beams, Vol. 12, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevSTAB.12.050402

Low-inductance gas switches for linear transformer drivers
journal, June 2009

  • Woodworth, J. R.; Alexander, J. A.; Gruner, F. R.
  • Physical Review Special Topics - Accelerators and Beams, Vol. 12, Issue 6, Article No. 060401
  • DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevSTAB.12.060401

High-Current Linear Transformer Driver Development at Sandia National Laboratories
journal, April 2010

  • Mazarakis, Michael G.; Fowler, William E.; LeChien, K. L.
  • IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, Vol. 38, Issue 4
  • DOI: 10.1109/TPS.2009.2035318

Energy loss due to eddy current in linear transformer driver cores
journal, July 2010

  • Kim, A. A.; Mazarakis, M. G.; Manylov, V. I.
  • Physical Review Special Topics - Accelerators and Beams, Vol. 13, Issue 7
  • DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevSTAB.13.070401

New low inductance gas switches for linear transformer drivers
journal, August 2010

  • Woodworth, J. R.; Stygar, W. A.; Bennett, L. F.
  • Physical Review Special Topics - Accelerators and Beams, Vol. 13, Issue 8
  • DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevSTAB.13.080401

Circuit models and three-dimensional electromagnetic simulations of a 1-MA linear transformer driver stage
journal, September 2010

  • Rose, D. V.; Miller, C. L.; Welch, D. R.
  • Physical Review Special Topics - Accelerators and Beams, Vol. 13, Issue 9
  • DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevSTAB.13.090401

Efficient ferromagnetic core impedance model with application to finite-difference time-domain simulation
journal, January 2012

  • Genoni, T. C.; Rose, D. V.; Clark, R. E.
  • Physical Review Special Topics - Accelerators and Beams, Vol. 15, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevSTAB.15.010401

Conceptual designs of two petawatt-class pulsed-power accelerators for high-energy-density-physics experiments
journal, November 2015

  • Stygar, W. A.; Awe, T. J.; Bailey, J. E.
  • Physical Review Special Topics - Accelerators and Beams, Vol. 18, Issue 11
  • DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevSTAB.18.110401

Optimized transmission-line impedance transformers for petawatt-class pulsed-power accelerators
journal, March 2008

  • Welch, D. R.; Genoni, T. C.; Rose, D. V.
  • Physical Review Special Topics - Accelerators and Beams, Vol. 11, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevSTAB.11.030401

Optimization of current waveform tailoring for magnetically driven isentropic compression experiments
journal, June 2016

  • Waisman, E. M.; Reisman, D. B.; Stoltzfus, B. S.
  • Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 87, Issue 6
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.4954173

Conceptual design of a 10 13 -W pulsed-power accelerator for megajoule-class dynamic-material-physics experiments
journal, July 2016


Water-dielectric-breakdown relation for the design of large-area multimegavolt pulsed-power systems
journal, July 2006

  • Stygar, W. A.; Wagoner, T. C.; Ives, H. C.
  • Physical Review Special Topics - Accelerators and Beams, Vol. 9, Issue 7, Article No. 070401
  • DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevSTAB.9.070401

Dielectric-breakdown tests of water at 6 MV
journal, January 2009

  • Stygar, W. A.; Savage, M. E.; Wagoner, T. C.
  • Physical Review Special Topics - Accelerators and Beams, Vol. 12, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevSTAB.12.010402

Dielectric properties of water and water/ethylene glycol mixtures for use in pulsed power system design
journal, January 1986


Induction voltage adders and the induction accelerator family
journal, June 2004


Works referencing / citing this record:

100 GW linear transformer driver cavity: Design, simulations, and performance
journal, December 2018


Nanosecond pulsed streamer discharges Part I: Generation, source-plasma interaction and energy-efficiency optimization
journal, February 2020