Ceramic Insulator Qualification for Ultra-High Vacuum Fast Pulsed Accelerator Magnets

Particle accelerators use fast pulsed magnet systems (kickers) for injection, extraction and disposal of beam. Kicker systems at CERN are usually under vacuum devices pulsed to levels of up to 80 kV and 5 kA as fast as 100 ns. Ceramic insulators (Al
2
O
3
) are used to electrically isolate the high voltage parts e.g. from the housing or vacuum tank and ground structures. New qualification methods have been introduced to better understand the root cause of the observed insulation faults and to qualify new samples.