CLIA - A Compact Linear Induction Accelerator System

CLIA (Compact Linear Induction Accelerator) is a 750-kV, 10-kA, 60-ns, 100-Hz driver in use at Physics International Company. The design and operational characteristics of the accelerator will be described in this paper. The CLIA system consists of a ten-cell accelerator with a cathode stalk to sum the voltage up to a single diode load, ten magnetically switched water insulated PFLs, a single two-stage magnetic compression unit (MCU) to charge the PFLs, and thyratron switched intermediate energy store (IES) and command resonant charge (CRC) units to drive the MCU. A linear induction accelerator system permits all pulse compression to be done at moderate voltage (40 to 150 kV) and then uses the accelerator structure to add parallel voltage pulses into a single high voltage output (750 W). This technique allows the switching to be done at moderate voltage and also makes the use of hydrogen thyratrons and magnetic switches possible.