Some future directions for repetitive pulsed power

Repetitive pulsed power has been pursued at a moderate level for decades, yet in a sense it is still a young and growing discipline. This implies that it is still on the fast portion of its growth curve. The 1990s were a relatively quiet decade, but customer interest is growing again, and with it comes new demands on the technology. Orders of magnitude advances will be needed over the next ten years. Fortunately, there is the potential for improvements of that order because of the relative immaturity of the technology. This paper discusses some of that potential. It does not attempt to provide a complete overview of the possibilities. Rather it attempts to identify a few areas where large growth seems likely over the next decade and to highlight the drivers for substantial breakthroughs.