Hermes-III positive polarity experiment

Hermes-III is a 22-MV, 730-kA, 40-ns electron beam linear induction accelerator with a magnetically insulated transmission line (MITL) adder used to produce bremsstrahlung radiation. Hermes-Ill has been operated in a reverse polarity mode to study possible applications of the Hermes-III technology to Sandia National Laboratories' Inertial Confinement Fusion Program. To accomplish the polarity reversal, the twenty induction cavities were rotated and the MITL was reinserted in the cavities. The Marx generators and the pulse forming networks were operated in negative polarity as before. The accelerator was operated at three levels: 50%, 80%, and 95% of full voltage and with two diode configurations. Data are presented on the operation of the positive polarity MITL adder, on the effects on the cavities, and on the operation of a pinched-beam, ion diode.