Pulsed Power Drivers and Diodes for X-Ray Radiography

Flash radiography has been used as a diagnostic for explosively driven hydrodynamics experiments for several decades following the pioneering work of J C Martin and his group at AWE. Relatively simple pulsed power drivers operating between 1 and 10 MV coupled to experimentally optimised electron beam diodes have achieved great success in a number of different classes of these experiments. The next generation of radiographic facilities will aim to improve even further the radiographic performance achievable by developing both the electron beam diodes used and the accelerators that drive them. The application of the rod-pinch diode to an Inductive Voltage Adder at 2 MV in the US has already advanced the quality of radiography available for relatively thin objects. For the thickest objects accelerators operating at up to 15 MV and diodes capable of focusing electron beams to intensities of ∼ 1 MA/cm²for tens of nanoseconds will be required in the future. Since the various candidate diode configurations operate in both high and low impedance regimes there is a further challenge to design and engineer an accelerator capable of driving whichever one, or more, are eventually used.