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XP Pulser
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When the rebuilt COBRA is available, the 450 kA, 14 year old XP pulser can then be refurbished and concentrate on X pinch experiments and single wire experiments with ~ 100 kA per wire. The availability of the two pulsers will then permit an increased number of graduate students to be trained.
The XP pulsed power generator was designed and
built about 15 years ago for the purpose of delivering about 500 kiloamperes to a low inductance load. It was designed by Steven Glidden, then a pulsed pwer engineer in the Laboratory of Plasma Studies.
The XP pulser consists of a 10-stage Marx generator
typically charged to 40 kilovolts (each stage). The Marx generator pulse-charges a water-dielectric coaxial capacitor (4 coaxial metal cylindars) called an intermediate storage capacitor (ISC). The electrical energy stored in the ISC is delivered to a coaxial pulse forming line (consisting of 3 cylinders) through a self-breakdown gas switch. The coaxial pulse-forming line delivers a 400-450 kiloampere pulse to various low inductance loads, such as X pinches and z-pinches made from exploding wires, through up to 8 self-breaking water switches. The current rise time (10-90) is typically 40 ns, and the full-width at half-maximum of the current pulse is 100 ns.
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