Compact Pulsed-Power Generators for $Z$ -Pinch Applications—The STARFISH Series

The design and construction of STARFISH, a series of compact pulsed-power generators to drive advanced
Z
-pinch experiments, for applications such as soft X-ray generation and as a high-density plasma diagnostic, is being developed in Oxford. The design for these machines is based on the use of many very low impedance distributed pulse-forming lines (PFLs) or discrete pulse-forming networks, which are connected in parallel, dc charged, and switched simultaneously on to a load which may be a wire or laser-preionized channel. This generator avoids the use of very high voltage Marx generators, liquid-insulated PFLs, and magnetically insulated transmission lines that are usually used in machines driving large
Z
-pinch experiments. Consequently, the generator is far more compact than conventional designs and should be operable at much higher repetition rates if laser preionization is used. The idea is to build a series of generators that can be operated routinely on a day-to-day basis, with pulse characteristics that can be ldquotailor-maderdquo for specific loads, and be both efficient and reliable.