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A system of 36 laser-triggered gas switches (LTGS) serves as the last set of command-triggered switches in the 80-TW refurbished Z accelerator at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). The system is instrumental in the overall performance of Z and allows for flexibility in pulse shaping for various experimental campaigns. It is desirable to push the operating envelope of the switches to higher voltages and currents to allow for a higher peak power to be delivered to the load while at the same time reducing jitter and pre-fire rate for increased precision and reliability. We have accomplished this with a new LTGS (which we refer to as the C1.1 switch) while keeping the overall switch size consistent with the physical space available. Like previous gas switches [1,2], the C1.1 LTGS consists of laser-triggered and cascade electrode sections. However, the C1.1's cascade section is cantilevered and is not supported mechanically near the trigger section. An insulating rod located within the cascade electrodes (which supports the cascade section mechanically) is scalloped to reduce the likelihood of electrical tracking. Material choice for the center support rod was important due to both the mechanical and electrical requirements placed on this component. Mechanical shock testing of the new switch was performed on a shaker table available at SNL prior to installation on Z. All electrical testing of the improved LTGS was performed on the Z machine. To date, we have accumulated over 120 shots on C1.1 switches without a pre-fire. Runtime statistics are determined after each shot and show that the C1.1 switches are very tolerant to voltage and pressure variations, exhibiting median runtimes of ~37-41 ns with a jitter of

We have developed conceptual designs of two next-generation petawatt-class pulsed-power accelerators. The designs are based on the architecture described in Ref. [1]. The prime power source of both designs is a system of lineartransformer drivers (LTDs) [2,3]. Both designs use six water-insulated radial-transmission-line impedance transformers [1,4,5] to transport the power generated by the LTDs to a six-level vacuum-insulator stack. The stack is connected to six radial magnetically insulated transmission lines (MITLs); the MITLs are joined in parallel at small radius by a triple-post-hole vacuum convolute [6-9]. The convolute delivers the combined power of the six MITLs to a single short MITL that transmits the power to the load. The first accelerator will generate a peak electrical power of 300 TW, and deliver an effective peak current of 50 MA to a z pinch that implodes in 130 ns. This accelerator is 35 m in diameter, and will fit within the existing Z-accelerator building. The second, which is 52 m in diameter, will generate 800 TW, and deliver an effective peak current of 66 MA to a pinch that implodes in 120 ns. Both accelerators will allow high-energy-density physics experiments to be conducted over heretofore inaccessible parameter regimes.

Summary form only given. We have developed and tested two prototype linear transformer drivers (LTDs): LTD III [1], which is a single LTD cavity that generates a peak electrical power of 79 GW, and Mykonos II [2,3], which is a two-cavity 142 GW LTD module. LTD III is driven by 20 bricks, each of which includes an 85-nH gas switch and two 60-nF capacitors. LTD III has been successfully tested on 3,500 shots at a charge voltage of +100 kV / -100 kV. The first 1,500 shots were conducted with UV-illuminated gas switches; the last 2,000, with new three-electrode field-distortion switches. Over the course of the last 2,000 shots, the variation of the output power generated by LTD III was 0.9% (one sigma) and the switch pre-fire rate was 1 in 10,000 switch shots after conditioning. Mykonos II is driven by 72 bricks altogether, 36 in each of the module's two cavities. Each brick includes a 115-nH switch and two 40-nH capacitors. Mykonos II is the first LTD module to drive a water-insulated transmission line. Mykonos has been successfully tested on 1,500 shots at a charge voltage of +90 kV / -90 k V. Over the course of these shots, the variation in the output power was 2.3% (one sigma) and the switch pre-fire rate was 1 in 11,000 switch shots after conditioning. Measured output-pulse parameters of LTD III and Mykonos II are consistent with circuit-model predictions. The results obtained suggest that LTDs are a viable prime-power source for next-generation pulsed-power accelerators.

Summary form only given. Sandia National Laboratories' Z-Backlighter Facility is using a laser driven monochromatic X-ray crystal imaging concept at the Manganese He-alpha energy of 6.151 keV to backlight HEDP experiments on the Z-Accelerator1. To further improve the reliability and efficiency of this tool, a series of experiments has been performed to determine the system's sensitivity to parameter variations such as changes in focus quality, polarization angle, target properties, pre-pulse levels or pulse energy. Improved hardware sets have been developed to enhance the precision and robustness of the target setup for transport between pre-alignment and final shot implementation. Along with target development, an evaluation of new detector types is underway.

The transmission line circuit model of the Z machine is used extensively to aid in the design and analysis of experiments conducted on Z. The circuit model consists of both 1-D and 2-D networks of transmission lines modeling Z's 36 pulselines, vacuum insulator stack, MITLs, vacuum convolute, and load [1].