Operation and Performance of the First High Current LTD at Sandia National Laboratories

A High Current Liner Transformer Driver (LTD) laboratory is operating at Sandia National Laboratories with an LTD/100 cavity running in rep-rate mode. With over one thousand shots completed the output of the LTD/100 is in excellent agreement with circuit model, SCREAMER [1] simulations, and exceeding the original operating predictions. Operating at a rep-rate of 1/30 Hz and a charge voltage of 85 kV, the LTD/100 is achieving a mean peak current of 514.6 kA plusmn 4.8 kA with a rise time of 60.6 ns plusmn 1.7 ns. With improvements to the support systems of the LTD/100 cavity it will be feasible to achieve a rep-rate of 1/15 Hz or less. The high current, short pulse capabilities combined with good reliability shows that LTD technology is a great candidate for use in future pulsed power applications.