High Voltage Solid-State Pulse Modulator for ENEA Particle Accelerator
At the research center ENEA, a cyclotron auto-resonance maser is currently under development. A set of challenging specifications have been set for the voltage pulse of this application such as a 700 kV pulsed voltage and 0.1% flat-top stability. Also, the pulse should have a flat-top interval of 5 μs and it must not exceed a 5 μs settling time as well as an 1% overshoot.
A pulse transformer-based solid-state pulse modulator topology has been proven suitable for achieving these requirements. Hence, in the first part of the project, optimization procedures are developed to derive appropriate transformer geometries, which fulfill the demanded specifications. Electromagnetic field and numerical simulations are also developed for verifying the outcome of the optimization procedures.
Another important goal of the project is the insulation design of the pulse transformer. Different types of oils (minerals, natural esters) are, typically, used as insulating materials, but, due to multiple unknown parameter influences, their breakdown strength can not be easily predicted in theory, so that laboratory experiments are required. Hence, a test setup to perform breakdown tests in oils is currently built and the measurements will be included into the general system optimization.