Overview and status of the Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamics Test (DARHT) facility

The Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamics Test (DARHT) facility will employ two perpendicular electron linear induction accelerators to produce intense, bremsstrahlung X-ray pulses for flash radiography. We intend to produce measurements containing three-dimensional information with sub-millimeter spatial resolution of the interior features of very dense, explosively driven objects. The facility will be completed in two phases with the first phase having become operational in July 1999 utilizing a single-pulse, 20 MeV, 2 kA, 60 ns accelerator, a high-resolution electrooptical X-ray imaging system, and other hydrodynamics testing systems. We describe this machine and discuss its current operating status. The first electron beams will be generated in the second phase of DARHT this year. The second DARHT accelerator consists of a 18.4 MeV, 2 kA, 2-microsecond pulse-width accelerator. Four short electron micropulses of variable pulse-width and spacing will be chopped out of the original, long accelerator pulse for producing time-resolved X-ray images. The second phase also features an extended, high-resolution electro-optical X-ray system with a framing speed of about 2 MHz. We discuss this accelerator by summarizing the overall design of the long-pulse injector and accelerator as well as some component test results. We also discuss the fast kicker used to separate the long-pulse beam into short bursts suitable for radiography.