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High voltage insulation is one of the main areas of pulsed power research and development, and dielectric breakdown is usually the limiting factor in attaining the highest possible performance in pulsed power devices. For many applications the delivery of pulsed power into a vacuum region is the most critical aspect of operation. The surface of an insulator exposed to vacuum can fail electrically at an applied field more than an order or magnitude below the bulk dielectric strength of the insulator. This mode of breakdown, called surface flashover, imposes serious limitations on the power flow into a vacuum region. This is especially troublesome for applications where high voltage conditioning of the insulator and electrodes is not practical and for applications where relatively long pulses, on the order of several microseconds, are required. The goal of this project is to establish a sound fundamental understanding of the mechanisms that lead to surface flashover, and then evaluate the most promising techniques to improve vacuum insulators and enable high voltage operation at stress levels near the intrinsic bulk breakdown limits of the material. The approach we proposed and followed was to develop this understanding through a combination of theoretical and computation methods coupled with experiments to validate and quantify expected behaviors. In this report we summarize our modeling and simulation efforts, theoretical studies, and experimental investigations. The computational work began by exploring the limits of commercially available codes and demonstrating methods to examine field enhancements and defect mechanisms at microscopic levels. Plasma simulations with particle codes used in conjunction with circuit models of the experimental apparatus enabled comparisons with experimental measurements. The large scale plasma (LSP) particle-in-cell (PIC) code was run on multiprocessor platforms and used to simulate expanding plasma conditions in vacuum gap regions. Algorithms were incorporated into LSP to handle secondary electron emission from dielectric materials to enable detailed simulations of flashover phenomenon. Theoretical studies were focused on explaining a possible mechanism for anode initiated surface flashover that involves an electron avalanche process starting near the anode, not a mechanism involving bulk dielectric breakdown. Experiments were performed in Engineering's Pulsed Power Lab using an available 100-kV, 10-{micro}s pulse generator and vacuum chamber. The initial experiments were done with polyethylene insulator material in the shape of a truncated cone cut at +45{sup o} angle between flat electrodes with a gap of 1.0 cm. The insulator was sized so there were no flashovers or breakdowns under nominal operating conditions. Insulator flashover or gap closure was induced by introducing a plasma source, a tuft of velvet, in proximity to the insulator or electrode.

The DARHT accelerator will deliver several intense relativistic electron beam pulses to an x-ray conversion target during a few microseconds. Plasma from the target can cause a partial neutralization of the vacuum self-Er field resulting in an unacceptably large beam radius at the target. The Livermore group has been developing barrier foils to block the plasma from moving upstream. Positive ions accelerated upstream from the foil in the self-Ez field during a single pulse could defocus the beam. In May, 2001 LANL used a sensitive ''two foil'' experiment to search for such effects. They measured significant time dependent effects using conducting foils (1). In January, 2002, the Livermore group repeated the experiment using the ETA II accelerator. We expected to see similar effects and planned to collect data that we could model. We saw no significant effect from conducting foils unless the beam radius was small enough to damage the foil. The reason for the different results has not been explained and is still being investigated. Possibilities have to do with the longer pulse length at LANL, (60 ns compared to 40) or with the higher energy at LANL, (20 Mev compared to 5.7) We also did some tests on more » dielectric targets where there is a strong effect to test our techniques. « less

The idea of using saturable reactors as the basis of high power pulse generators is not a new concept, but there have been few recent applications of this technology. Here the principle of magnetic pulse generation is briefly described and some of the basic guidelines used to design these circuits are discussed. A demonstration of the principles by a small scale pulse amplifier is presented, and finally there is an extrapolation to a large scale system.

The operational characteristics of the 10 kA, 60 ns, 2.5 MeV ATA injector are presented. Studies of beam emittance, beam profile, rf spectrum and other aspects of beam dynamics were performed, as was a detailed study of the operation and interaction of the plasma cathode and the extraction grid.

This report describes experiments in beam propagation with the ETA beam during 1982 following accelerator cavity modifications which allowed a maximum beam current of up to 8 kA at the entrance to the propagation tank. A prominent new feature of the propagation in high pressure gas was an enhancement of the net current as the beam propagated. In some cases this enhanced current was nearly double the injected beam current. The strong current enhancement was associated with strong transverse hose motion of the beam. The absence of microwave emissions in the range from 6.6 GHz to 31 GHz indicates that this current enhancement is not due to a two-stream instability.