Pulsed power driven radiographic approaches

Summary form only given, as follows. Pulsed power driven flash radiographic sources have been used for over thirty years to interrogate the interior mass distribution evolution in dynamic objects. A wide variety of drivers and electron beam diodes have been developed for this purpose, providing a spectrum of test capabilities in voltage (penetration capability), dose (detected signal level), and spot size (spatial resolution) in sub-hundred-nanosecond pulses (motion freeze). Recent efforts by a multiorganizational team have been directed toward understanding the underlying physical mechanisms governing the performance of radiographic sources. Industrial tapered anode, paraxial gas transport, rod-pinch, and magnetically immersed diodes have been studied. Modern numerical simulation codes (Fluid/Particle-in-Cell/Monte Carlo) have been developed and are being compared to experimental data from these different radiographic diodes on a variety of pulsed power drivers. This coupled experimental-theoretical approach is providing insight into the fundamental limits of different source architectures and gives confidence in the design of future radiographic systems. For example, led by these new insights the radiographic performance (dose/spot size) of an existing accelerator was increased by a factor of seven. Future pulsed power driven radiographic system options are also discussed.