Efficiency study of repetitive POS-in-magnetic-field technology

The report describes possibilities to make existing repetitive plasma opening switch (RPOS) technology competitive with existing accelerator X-ray radiating systems. The use of an external magnetic field for magnetic insulation of the RPOS system allows to increase the achievable voltage in RPOS and diode and the total efficiency of the system from the wall plug to X-ray irradiation. The experiments on an RS-20 pulsed power generator with the use of an external magnetic field allows one to raise the RPOS voltage from 2-2.2 to 2.8-3 MV. Another option is to combine the RPOS and diode in one unit to avoid energy losses when switching current to the diode with a wall plug to e-beam efficiency of 50-70%. On this basis, a concept of a 5 MV RPOS X-ray generator is proposed, capable of producing 200-300 kW in an e-beam.