A high voltage pulsed power supply for capillary discharge waveguide applications

作者：Abuazoum S^*; Wiggins S M; Issac R C; Welsh G H; Vieux G; Ganciu M; Jaroszynski D A

来源：Review of Scientific Instruments, 2011, 82(6): 063505.

DOI：10.1063/1.3600900

We present an all solid-state, high voltage pulsed power supply for inducing stable plasma formation (density similar to 10(18) cm(-3)) in gas-filled capillary discharge waveguides. The pulser (pulse duration of 1 mu s) is based on transistor switching and wound transmission line transformer technology. For a capillary of length 40 mm and diameter 265 mu m and gas backing pressure of 100 mbar, a fast voltage pulse risetime of 95 ns initiates breakdown at 13 kV along the capillary. A peak current of similar to 280 A indicates near complete ionization, and the r.m.s. temporal jitter in the current pulse is only 4 ns. Temporally stable plasma formation is crucial for deploying capillary waveguides as plasma channels in laser-plasma interaction experiments, such as the laser wakefield accelerator.

• 出版日期2011-6