60 MA Multistage Blumlein Concept

Sparktronics has developed a conceptual design of a 60 MA multistage Blumlein generator for the ZX project at Sandia National Lab. The requirement is 60 MA, 100 ns pulse in an inductive load of 15 nil. Calculation shows that the voltage of the multistage Blumlein must be about 10 MV. This task can be performed by using a sequence of three-axial lines which forms the basics of the multistage Blumlein. At the output load a voltage of 10 MV is produced by charging voltage of 2 MV delivered from conventional Marx generators. The pulse length is the delay of a transmission line of each section multiplied by two. For the conceptual design an electrical schematic and mechanical 3-D model was produced. This generator consists of modules 2.5 m in diameter and 12 m long, 40-50 of these modules may be used to obtain the 60 MA, 10 MV output pulse. Recent experiments have manufactured and tested a switch and one section of the generator to show feasibility. Feasibility of synchronizing multiple switches has also been demonstrated.