ECF2: A pulsed power generator based on magnetic flux compression for K-shell radiation production

The 3 MJ energy stored ECF2 generator is developed at Centre d'Etudes de Gramat, France, for K-shell radiation production. This generator is based on microsecond LTD stages as primary generators, and on the magnetic flux compression scheme for power amplification from the microsecond to the 100ns regime. This paper presents a general overview of the ECF2 generator. The flux compression stage, a key component, will be studied in details. We will present its advantages and drawbacks. We will then present the first experimental and numerical results which show the improvements that have already been made on this scheme.