Simulations of a 1MV linear transformer driver for flash X-ray radiography

A 10 cavity LTD accelerator has been tested at CEA for flash radiography applications1. This LTD system is configured to deliver a 1MV pulse on a 6Ω electron beam diode. A magnetically insulated transmission line is use to transport the power to a large area diode. This work describes a numerical analysis of this LTD system. The Particle-In-Cell (PIC) code LSP2 is used for modeling the pulsed power generator and its diode. The evolution and properties of the electron loss during the operation were analyzed. The simulation results are compared with the experimental data. The good agreement between the simulation and the measurements validates this simulation for predicting the machine behavior including at higher voltages.