Inductive energy technology for pulsed intense X-ray sources

Defense Special Weapons Agency (DSWA) has been developing inductive energy storage technology (IES) for applications requiring short pulses of X-rays with peak radiation power in the terawatt range. The purpose of this program is to develop more compact and affordable pulsed power sources and power flow technology needed for efficient conversion of the electromagnetic energy into radiation. Performance characteristics of present generators and power conditioning for future pulsed power IES designs are discussed. Because of the complex physics governing the interaction among the power conditioning, power flow, and load performance, DSWA supports studies of power flow to the load that converts the electromagnetic energy to X-ray radiation. Experiments performed at high power levels and resulting improvements in performance are reported.