Preliminary Interferometric Investigations of a Demountable Ignitron

Abstract

This paper describes preliminary Mach-Zehnder interferometry measurements done on a special demountable ignitron which has one set of through ports placed just below the bottom face of the anode. It is believed that this is the first set of interferometric diagnostics ever to be performed on a full size ignitron (15.24 em diameter). Future knowledge of the discharge plasma charged particle density and other plasma behavior will help in the optimization of the ignitron for high peak power applications. The test system includes a 2.56 mF capacitor bank, a test stand of 1 microH inductance, various voltage and current probes, a high speed rotating camera to record the fringe patterns, an Argon laser, and a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The interferometer consists of a square chamber with a section cut out to insert the test stand, various mirrors and beam splitters with alignment motors, and a 2 watt argon laser as the light source.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 1989
Accession Number
ADA639117

Entities

People

  • D. I. Loree
  • J. E. Burke
  • M . Kristiansen
  • M. Giesselmann

Organizations

  • Texas Tech University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Argon Lasers
  • Capacitors
  • Charged Particles
  • Diameters
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Geometry
  • Ignitrons
  • Interferometers
  • Interferometry
  • Laser Pulses
  • Lasers
  • Light Sources
  • Mach Zehnder Interferometers
  • Peak Power
  • Power
  • Pulsed Power
  • Test Stands

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Combustion and Flow Dynamics.
  • Image Processing and Computer Vision.
  • Pulsed Power and Plasma Physics.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy