| Abstract: | A variable-pulse-shape pulsed-power accelerator is driven by a large
number of independent LC drive circuits. Each LC circuit drives one or
more coaxial transmission lines that deliver the circuit's output power
to several water-insulated radial transmission lines that are connected
in parallel at small radius by a water-insulated post-hole convolute. The
accelerator can be impedance matched throughout. The coaxial transmission
lines are sufficiently long to transit-time isolate the LC drive circuits
from the water-insulated transmission lines, which allows each LC drive
circuit to be operated without being affected by the other circuits. This
enables the creation of any power pulse that can be mathematically
described as a time-shifted linear combination of the pulses of the
individual LC drive circuits. Therefore, the output power of the
convolute can provide a variable pulse shape to a load that can be used
for magnetically driven, quasi-isentropic compression experiments and
other applications. |