Inductively driven transmission lines: fringe-field-driven devices for powering diagnostic X-ray sources on the Z Pulsed Power Facility

Pulsed-power-driven diagnostic X-ray sources such as X-pinches have long been fielded in series with the load on 1-MA pulsed power facilities. However, the substantially larger load currents and more stringent inductance constraints at the Z Pulsed Power Facility have thus far prevented the fielding of diagnostic X-pinches on Z experiments. Here we introduce the inductively driven transmission line (IDTL) concept, whereby a secondary transmission line is inductively coupled to fringe magnetic fields that are generated in the final power feed on Z. Short-circuit IDTL experiments on Z have demonstrated that 10-200 + kA of current can be driven in an IDTL without perturbing the primary load. Given these results, a surrogate IDTL platform has been developed on the 1-MA Mykonos facility to enable rapid X-pinch source development. In this paper, short-circuit IDTL results are presented from both high-current IDTLs that will ultimately be used to power X-pinches as well as low-current IDTLs that serve as self-common-mode-rejecting load current monitors.

Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-mission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International, Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA-0003525.