Radiographic diodes focus on an intense electron beam to a small spot size to minimize the source area of energetic photons for radiographic interrogation. The self-magnetic pinch (SMP) diode has been developed as such a source and operated as a load for the six-cavity radiographic integrated test stand (RITS-6) inductive voltage adder driver. While experiments support the generally accepted conclusion that a 1:1 aspect diode (cathode diameter equals anode–cathode gap) delivers optimum SMP performance, such experiments also show that reducing the cathode diameter, while reducing spot size, also results in reduced radiation dose, by as much as 50%, and degraded shot reproducibility. Analysis of the effective electron impingement angle on the anode converter with time made possible by a newly developed dose-rate array diagnostic indicates that fast-developing oscillations of the angle are correlated with early termination of the radiation pulse on many of the smaller-diameter SMP shots. This behavior as a function of relative cathode size persists through experiments with output voltages and currents up to 11.5 MV and 225 kA, respectively, and with spot sizes below approximately few millimeters. Since simulations to date have not predicted such oscillatory behavior, considerable discussion of the angle behavior of SMP shots is made to lend credence to the inference. We report there is clear anecdotal evidence that DC heating of the SMP diode region leads to stabilization of this oscillatory behavior. This is the first of two papers on the performance of the SMP diode on the RITS-6 accelerator.
The self-magnetic pinch (SMP) diode is a type of radiographic diode used to generate an intense electron beam for radiographic applications. At Sandia National Laboratories, SMP was the diode load for the six-cavity radiographic integrated test stand inductive voltage adder (IVA) driver operated in a magnetically insulated transmission line (MITL). The MITL contributes a flow current in addition to the current generated within the diode itself. Extensive experiments with a MITL of 40 Ω load impedance [T. J. Renk et al., Phys. Plasmas 29, 023105 (2022)] indicate that the additional flow current leads to results similar to what might be expected from a conventional high-voltage interface driver, where flow current is not present. However, when the MITL flow impedance was increased to 80 Ω, qualitatively different diode behavior was observed. This includes large retrapping waves suggestive of an initial coupling to low impedance as well as diode current decreasing with time even as the total current does not. A key observation is that the driver generates total current (flow + diode) consistent with the flow impedance of the MITL used. The case is made in this paper that the 80 Ω MITL experiments detailed here can only be understood when the IVA-MITL-SMP diode is considered as a total system. The constraint of fixed total current plus the relatively high flow impedance limits the ability of the diode (whether SMP or other type) to act as an independent load. An unexpected new result is that in tracking the behavior of the electron strike angle on the converter as a function of time, we observed that the conventional cIV x “Radiographic” radiation scaling (where x ∼ 2.2) begins to break down for voltages above 8 MV, and cubic scaling is required to recover accurate angle tracking.
Radiographic diodes focus an intense electron beam to a small spot size to minimize the source area of energetic photons for radiographic interrogation. The self-magnetic pinch (SMP) diode has been developed as such a source and operated as a load for the RITS-6 Inductive Voltage Adder (IVA) driver. While experiments support the generally accepted conclusion that a 1:1 aspect diode (cathode diameter equals anode-cathode gap) delivers optimum SMP performance, such experiments also show that reducing the cathode diameter, while reducing spot size, also results in reduced radiation dose, by as much as 50%, and degraded shot reproducibility. Analyzation of the effective electron impingement angle on the anode converter with time made possible by a newly developed dose-rate array diagnostic indicates that fast-developing oscillations of the angle are correlated with early termination of the radiation pulse on many of the smaller-diameter SMP shots. This behavior as a function of relative cathode size persists through experiments with output voltages and currents up to 11.5 MV and 225 kA, respectively, and with spot sizes below ~ few mm. Since simulations to date have not predicted such oscillatory behavior, considerable discussion of the angle-behavior of SMP shots is made to lend credence to the inference. There is clear anecdotal evidence that DC heating of the SMP diode region leads to stabilization of this oscillatory behavior. This is the first of two papers on the performance of the SMP diode on the RITS-6 accelerator.
Power flow studies on the 30-MA, 100-ns Z facility at Sandia National Laborat ories (SNL) have shown that plasmas in the facility's magnetically insulated transmission lines (MITLs) can result in a loss of current delivered to the load. 1 During the current pulse, thermal energy deposition into the electrodes (ohmic heating, charged particle bombardment, etc.) causes neutral surface contaminants layers (water, hydrogen, hydrocarbons, etc.) to desorb, ionize, and form plasmas in the anode-cathode (AK) gap. 2 Shrinking typical ele ctrode thicknesses (~1 cm) down to that of thin foils (5-200 μm) produces observable amounts of plasma on smaller pulsed power drivers (≤1 MA). 3 We suspect that as the electrode material bulk thickness decreases relative to the skin depth of the current pulse (50-100 μm for a 100-500-ns pulse in aluminum), the thermal energy delivered to the neutral surface contaminant layers increases, and thus more surface contaminants desorb from the current carrying surface.
In relativistic electron beam diodes, the self-generated magnetic field causes electron-beam focusing at the center of the anode. Generally, plasma is formed all over the anode surface during and after the process of the beam focusing. In this work, we use visible-light Zeeman-effect spectroscopy for the determination of the magnetic field in the anode plasma in the Sandia 10 MV, 200 kA (RITS-6) electron beam diode. The magnetic field is determined from the Zeeman-dominated shapes of the Al III 4s-4p and C IV 3s-3p doublet emissions from various radial positions. Near the anode surface, due to the high plasma density, the spectral line-shapes are Stark-dominated, and only an upper limit of the magnetic field can be determined. The line-shape analysis also yields the plasma density. The data yield quantitatively the magnetic-field shielding in the plasma. The magnetic-field distribution in the plasma is compared to the field-diffusion prediction and found to be consistent with the Spitzer resistivity, estimated using the electron temperature and charge-state distribution determined from line intensity ratios.
The results presented here were obtained with a self-magnetic pinch (SMP) diode mounted at the front high voltage end of the RITS accelerator. RITS is a Self-Magnetically Insulated Transmission Line (MITL) voltage adder that adds the voltage pulse of six 1.3 MV inductively insulated cavities. The RITS driver together with the SMP diode has produced x-ray spots of the order of 1 mm in diameter and doses adequate for the radiographic imaging of high area density objects. Although, through the years, a number of different types of radiographic electron diodes have been utilized with SABER, HERMES III and RITS accelerators, the SMP diode appears to be the most successful and simplest diode for the radiographic investigation of various objects. Our experiments had two objectives: first to measure the contribution of the back-streaming ion currents emitted from the anode target and second to try to evaluate the energy of those ions and hence the Anode-Cathode (A-K) gap actual voltage. In any very high voltage inductive voltage adder utilizing MITLs to transmit the power to the diode load, the precise knowledge of the accelerating voltage applied on the A-K gap is problematic. This is even more difficult in an SMP diode where the A-K gap is very small (∼1 cm) and the diode region very hostile. The accelerating voltage quoted in the literature is from estimates based on the measurements of the anode and cathode currents of the MITL far upstream from the diode and utilizing the para-potential flow theories and inductive corrections. Thus, it would be interesting to have another independent measurement to evaluate the A-K voltage. The diode's anode is made of a number of high-Z metals in order to produce copious and energetic flash x-rays. It was established experimentally that the back-streaming ion currents are a strong function of the anode materials and their stage of cleanness. We have measured the back-streaming ion currents emitted from the anode and propagating through a hollow cathode tip for various diode configurations and different techniques of target cleaning treatment: namely, heating at very high temperatures with DC and pulsed current, with RF plasma cleaning, and with both plasma cleaning and heating. We have also evaluated the A-K gap voltage by energy filtering technique. Experimental results in comparison with LSP simulations are presented.
This LDRD investigated plasma formation, field strength, and current loss in pulsed power diodes. In particular the Self-Magnetic Pinch (SMP) e-beam diode was studied on the RITS-6 accelerator. Magnetic fields of a few Tesla and electric fields of several MV/cm were measured using visible spectroscopy techniques. The magnetic field measurements were then used to determine the current distribution in the diode. This distribution showed that significant beam current extends radially beyond the few millimeter x-ray focal spot diameter. Additionally, shielding of the magnetic field due to dense electrode surface plasmas was observed, quantified, and found to be consistent with the calculated Spitzer resistivity. In addition to the work on RITS, measurements were also made on the Z-machine looking to quantify plasmas within the power flow regions. Measurements were taken in the post-hole convolute and final feed gap regions on Z. Dopants were applied to power flow surfaces and measured spectroscopically. These measurements gave species and density/temperature estimates. Preliminary B-field measurements in the load region were attempted as well. Finally, simulation work using the EMPHASIS, electromagnetic particle in cell code, was conducted using the Z MITL conditions. The purpose of these simulations was to investigate several surface plasma generations models under Z conditions for comparison with experimental data.