Recent advances in kicker pulser technology for linear induction accelerators

Recent progress in the development and understanding of linear induction accelerator have produced machines with 10´s of MeV of beam energy and multi-kiloampere currents. Near-term machines, such as DARHT-2, are envisioned with microsecond pulselengths. Fast beam kickers, based on cylindrical electromagnetic stripline structures, will permit effective use of these extremely high-energy beams in an increasing number of applications. In one application, radiography, kickers are an essential element in resolving temporal evolution of hydrodynamic events by cleaving out individual pulses from long, microsecond beams. Advanced schemes are envisioned where these individual pulses are redirected through varying length beam lines and suitably recombined for stereographic imaging or tomographic reconstruction. Recent advances in fast kickers and their pulsed power technology are described. Kicker pulsers based on both planar triode and all solid-state componentry are discussed and future development plans are presented.